Advanced air mobility to fly Illinois into future

Moving goods and people more efficiently is key to reducing congestion and improving quality of life. The same holds true for our airways.

Illinois Center for Transportation and Illinois Department of Transportation prepare for next-generation air technologies to increase this efficiency in a joint project, “R27-241: Advancing Air Mobility in Illinois.”

William Viste, project coordinator at IDOT’s Division of Aeronautics, leads the project along with Northwestern University’s Hani Mahmassani (principal investigator), Christopher Cummings, Vasileios Volakakis, Laurence Audenaerd and Jessica De La Paz.

Their goal is to help Illinois policymakers understand the prospects, challenges and impacts of advanced air mobility as well as the potential opportunities for economic development.

Advanced air mobility aims to provide safe and efficient automated air transport in urban and rural areas through new technologies such as drones and electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.

Uses of advanced air mobility may include air taxis, agricultural surveying, package delivery, and infrastructure inspection, among others.

Mahmassani’s team sought to understand potential impacts of advanced air mobility in Illinois by evaluating supply and demand, exploring business models for deployment, evaluating impacts to people and economic development, and providing policy recommendations.

They began by examining the current state of advanced air mobility, including regulations, technologies and key industry players, before identifying benefits and challenges in Illinois.

Challenges to rolling out advanced air mobility include regulation and certification, developing reliable aircraft for severe weather, air traffic control, safety and noise.

They also explored Illinois’ geographic environment and industrial operations by county as well as airspace usage to determine potential areas for advanced air mobility services.

Another key consideration is how introducing advanced air mobility may influence Illinois’ ground and aviation systems, as the researchers explored potential shifts to ground and air traffic as well as airway flow and safety.

Mahmassani’s team also identified future infrastructure and facility needs, such as charging capacity, spatial requirements and cost for ground infrastructure, telecommunication system upgrades and cybersecurity.

They developed policy recommendations based on their findings for integrating advanced air mobility into Illinois’ existing aviation system.

Their recommendations span criteria from safety, integration into existing airspace systems, public acceptance, economic growth, environmental impact, infrastructure planning and connection with other transportation modes.

Key policy recommendations are as follows:

• Monitor the evolution of Federal Aviation Administration and federal regulations on advanced air mobility
• Develop flexible policies to account for uncertain adoption rates
• Develop policies that easily integrate advanced air mobility with existing transportation systems
• Integrate advanced air mobility and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft operations into the Illinois Aviation System Plan
• Append the Illinois Aviation System Plan to address security vulnerabilities
• Develop strategies to educate and notify local jurisdictions on statewide strategies, policies and relevant laws

Thanks to their efforts, taxpayers in Illinois will see more effective use of public and private resources when rolling out advanced air mobility as well as enhanced safety, efficiency and transportation options and economic opportunities.