A flying car could soon land on a building near you.
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These markets, aside from California, are where Joby is preparing to launch early operations under the White House-backed Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Vehicles Integration Pilot Program.
Atoms plans to develop the vertiports that Joby's air taxis would use. The sites would include a port for electric aircraft as well as act as transportation hubs for autonomous ground vehicles and ride-sharing services.
Atoms is led by Travis Kalanick, the billionaire founder of Uber. He launched the industrial infrastructure company in March and rolled it together with the ghost kitchen company he owns, CloudKitchens.
“As new transport modes and smart city services become available, designing and deploying a new asset class to support them is critical," Kalanick said in a statement. "We’re focused on serving city stakeholders with inspired, efficient buildouts that deliver great experiences for residents and communities alike.”
In March, the Federal Aviation Administration tapped eight agencies across 26 states to carry out the program. These transportation agencies are in New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania and Louisiana.
Joby Aviation already has plans for scaling the program, looking at production facilities in Marina, California, and Dayton, Ohio.
The company has expanded through M&A activity.
It acquired Uber's Elevate arm, its "aerial ride-share division," in 2020, with the ride-sharing app agreeing to invest $75M into Joby as part of the deal. Last year, the company acquired private aviation passenger company Blade in a $125M deal.
In Miami, Related Ross CEO and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has already begun investing in this type of infrastructure.
Ross began a partnership with another electric air taxi company, Archer Aviation, last year to build out infrastructure for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Ross has offered up a private golf course, the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and one of the company's West Palm Beach developments to develop vertiport sites for the company. Archer Aviation plans to begin testing rides on these taxis this year.
Archer purchased a master lease of Hawthorne Airport in Los Angeles County. The company plans to transform the site into the "airport of the future" and could be home to a network of dozens of landing sites across the region.
Though the partnerships are preparing the industry for takeoff, it will still take years before any air taxis reach cruising altitude.
These aviation companies still need to win FAA approval, which has proven harder than anticipated, Bloomberg reported. FAA certifications aren't anticipated to be released until 2027, at the earliest.
