Creating a framework for community integration of urban air mobility.

Technological advancements in propulsion systems, alternative fuel, battery power and storage, and autonomy have led to the development of a new generation of aircraft. These enabling technologies inclusive of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), Large Cargo Unmanned Aircraft (LUCA), and electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) or electric Conventional Take-off and Landing (eCTOL) aircraft fall under the umbrella term of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). The current literature, in addition to regulators and the industry, is heavily focused on the aircraft and technology integration. This research contributes to a literature gap concerning ground infrastructure and community integration of AAM. The research aims to provide a framework of next steps relevant to state and city planners and policy makers. Subject matter experts from key AAM stakeholder groups were consulted through the execution of semi-structured interviews to produce a rich dataset of the issues and challenges of integrating AAM into the state and city’s transportation systems. The systematic approach of thematic analysis was used to identify top themes and sub-themes. The results identified AAM success keys, potential use cases, anticipated benefits of AAM, anticipated obstacles to AAM adoption, and stakeholder roles at the city, state, and federal level. These results have provided a framework for cities and states of what to do in the initial phases to integrate Advanced Air Mobility technologies into their existing transportations networks for a more sustainable and robust system.