The Tampa Area Regional Transit Authority’s ambitious vision for the Tampa Bay area includes everything from air taxis to electric shuttles, hyperloops and a pod traveling system.
A German-based company pitched air taxis to the Board members of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority on July, 17. The company, Lilium GmbH, is the developer of the Lilium Jet, an electric-powered air taxi that would take passengers from Tampa to St. Petersburg in eight minutes.
“TBARTA is looking toward future transit innovation technology such as air taxis that are really going to define how we travel in the decades to come,” said TBARTA Director of Communications Chris Jadick to WFLA.
The Lilium Jet would be able to carry four passengers and one pilot and could travel at speeds up to 185 mph. It is also capable of taking off and landing vertically on landing pads, according to a press release.
The proposed trip from Tampa to St. Petersburg would cost around $90, as reported by WFLA.
The air taxi would also be capable of taking travelers from Tampa to nearby cities like Gainesville or Miami in under an hour.
The TBARTA board plans to move forward in learning more from Lilium.
“We’d like to report at our next board meeting on what it would take to do a pilot study,” said Jadick to WFLA. “Lillian was asked how much time do they need to be able to launch to put a pilot project or to get some operation and they said by 2025.”
Local commercial flight in the bay area is not new. In 1914, Tony Jannus and a passenger flew the world’s first scheduled commercial flight from St. Pete to Tampa. It took 23 minutes and began the “airboat line” from which one-way flights were $5 each.
On Wednesday, the TBARTA approved a three-month pilot program for a driverless shuttle. The 140,000 program was “unanimously” supported by the St. Petersburg City Council, according to a press release.
The electric, 15-foot shuttles would be provided by the Orlando based company Beep. Up to six passengers, a number reduced from 10 due to the coronavirus pandemic, would be able to board the 15 mph shuttle.
In a February council workshop, Clearwater Councilman Bob Cundiff asked for a “resolution of encouragement and assistance,” to allow BeachTran Clearwater LLC to request information from the city for a proposal to build Tampa Bay’s first aerial rapid transit system, which uses “magnetic levitation to move people through lightweight, electric pods,” reports the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Phase one of the pod system proposal includes stations in downtown Clearwater as well as Pier 60, Island Estates and Clearwater Beach, reports the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
The TBARTA is also working on a hyperloop and a 41-mile, electric bus system.
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This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2020.