Vertiport Systems Integration and Location Assessment

The future of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) highlights tremendous economic opportunities and a major shift in the delivery of services and products globally. The future growth of UAM is due to the multiple benefits it provides including improving emergency and natural disaster response, facilitating commercial package delivery, and in the long-run, integration with existing transportation and commuter system (air taxies). Senate Bill 161, “Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Revisions” sponsored by Senator Harper and Representative Christofferson was crafted in 2023 Session to explore how Utah might leverage itself toward the future of UAM. The bill requires Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to study a range of different issues within AAM, including to better understand vertiport locations and related infrastructure. Within this context, the bill further lays out specific elements that need to be studied, those include: (1) identification of suitable locations for vertiport infrastructure and parking infrastructure for vertiports in metropolitan areas; (2) identification of commuter rail stations that may be suitable for vertiport placement; and (3) identification of underutilized parking lots and parking structures for vertiport infrastructure placement. The major challenges toward fulfilling these elements are the lack of mechanisms and scope for how these will be studied, and the limited tools currently available to conduct this study. Inevitably, this work lends itself to a structured and systematic research approach that bridges knowledge in Uncrewed Aerial Systems, geospatial analytics and land use planning.

    Language

    • English

    Project

    • Status: Active
    • Funding: $49640
    • Contract Numbers:

      239340

    • Sponsor Organizations:

      Utah Department of Transportation

      4501 South 2700 West
      Project Development
      Salt Lake City, UT  United States  84114-8380
    • Managing Organizations:

      Utah Department of Transportation

      4501 South 2700 West
      Project Development
      Salt Lake City, UT  United States  84114-8380
    • Project Managers:

      Chamberlin, Robert

    • Performing Organizations:

      Utah State University

      Logan, Utah  United States  84322
    • Principal Investigators:

      Chamberlain, Brent

    • Start Date: 20230614
    • Expected Completion Date: 20241231
    • Actual Completion Date: 0

    Subject/Index Terms

    Filing Info

    • Accession Number: 01898270
    • Record Type: Research project
    • Source Agency: Utah Department of Transportation
    • Contract Numbers: 239340
    • Files: RIP, STATEDOT
    • Created Date: Nov 6 2023 4:39PM