Repurposing Existing Infrastructure for Urban Air Mobility: A Scenario Analysis in Southern California

Abstract

The deployment of urban air mobility in built-out metropolitan regions is constrained by infrastructure opportunities, land use, and airspace zoning designations. Meanwhile, the availability and spatial distribution of infrastructure opportunities influence the travel demand that can be potentially captured by UAM services. The purpose of this study is to provide an initial assessment of the infrastructure opportunities of UAM in southern California with different mixes of spatial constraints, such as noise levels, school buffer zones, and airspace zones. The corresponding travel demand that can be potentially captured under each scenario is estimated with a home–workplace trip table. The results of the analyses indicate that supply-side infrastructure opportunities, such as heliports and elevated parking structures, are widely available to accommodate the regional deployment of UAM services. However, current spatial constraints can significantly limit the scope of vertiport location choices. Furthermore, the low-income population, blue-collar workers, and young people live farther away from supply-side opportunities than the general population. Moreover, this study proposes a network of UAM based on the top home-based and workplace-based stations for long-distance trips.