Stephen Ross Leads Real Estate Push To Make Flying Taxis Over Miami A Reality
Flying cars typically conjure thoughts of Back to the Future II, The Jetsons or Star Wars. But starting next year, science fiction could morph into reality for South Floridians.
Billionaire developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced a partnership this month with Archer Aviation to build out infrastructure for Archer's electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
Ross, who has pledged $10B to transform West Palm Beach, is not only offering a private golf course and the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami as vertiport locations, but his company, Related Ross, plans to develop one within its various West Palm Beach developments. Archer expects to start testing rides in the flying taxis, known as eVTOLs, in 2026.
Ross' investments have already attracted hedge funds, private equity and technology companies with high-paying jobs to the area. But the region's notorious traffic is jeopardizing the momentum — and with local transit facing funding cuts, its leaders are looking to the skies for a solution.
“I think anybody moving to a region has it as a concern, because they associate growth with traffic, but I think we're trying, and the city and county here are very focused on doing it in a thoughtful way,” Related Ross Executive Vice President Jordan Rathlev said.
Florida’s population has increased by 8% since 2020, and Miami’s population grew by more than 10% between 2020 and 2024. Congestion has followed.
The average Miami commuter, in boundaries that span from Homestead up to West Palm Beach, spent 93 hours stuck in traffic in 2024, 30 hours more than the average U.S. car commuter, according to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s 2025 Urban Mobility Report.
While the region has multiple alternative modes of transportation, like the privately owned Brightline train or the Tri-Rail line, they haven't seen enough adoption to alleviate traffic. Air taxis, while untested, are seen as part of the solution.
“Anything that we can do to remove existing vehicular demand from our facilities would help congestion, assuming that it is substantive,” said Lily Elefteriadou, director of the University of Florida’s Transportation Institute.
The Florida Department of Transportation has launched an Advanced Air Mobility initiative, which is intended to explore pathways for air transportation via statewide planning, safety coordination and partnering with industry and research institutions.
For Related, which is attracting regional headquarters for tech companies like ServiceNow to its developments and helping carve the path for a top-20 university like Vanderbilt University to establish a presence in the area, the focus is on getting ahead of future congestion and keeping prospective tenants and companies interested in South Florida.
“Having companies within the eVTOL space is important to us as a company, to us as a steward for the city and the county, relative to how we think about mobility options for the long term,” Rathlev said.
“I think if you're not thinking about long-term infrastructure, if you're not thinking about long-term mobility solutions, you're not thinking about the future,” he added.
The shift from dismissal to acceptance has been swift, said JC Asencio, infrastructure and emerging markets partnerships manager for Wisk Aero, another advanced air mobility company and air taxi developer.
“Three years ago, if I came to some states and told them about this, they'd be like, ‘What is that? Like The Jetsons?’” Asencio said. “But now there's a 37-state coalition called the AAM Multistate Collaborative [to develop safety policies].”
South Florida is a perfect place to launch the service, Archer Head of Government Affairs Melissa McCaffrey wrote in an email to Bisnow, because of its high level of congestion and a friendly regulatory environment.
Archer is looking to connect Miami, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale with 12 vertiports across the region.
It already has partnerships to launch from Stuart Witham Field Airport, Palm Beach International Airport, Boca Raton Airport, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, Miami International Airport and Miami Executive Airport.
Ross is offering the helipad at his privately owned Apogee Golf Club in Hobe Sound, north of West Palm Beach, and Archer will also offer flights to and from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, which hosts the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami football teams.
While Archer is mainly leveraging existing aviation infrastructure, Ross has agreed to build a vertiport — a dedicated hub for landing, taking off and charging eVTOL aircraft — somewhere in downtown West Palm Beach.
Rathlev declined to comment on the location or plans for the development, but McCaffrey said Related Ross locations are “more apt to be mixed-use locations.”
Archer tapped another developer, Dragon Global, to develop a vertiport site in the planned Magic City Innovation District, a transit-oriented development with residential, office and retail buildings in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. Dragon Global didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment.
“Our plan is to take a crawl, walk, run approach,” McCaffrey said. “Early deployment next year would be low rate of operations utilizing existing aviation infrastructure for point-to-point flights, so there would be minimal impact.”
Rides, which would be booked through an app, would cost about $200 per person to start. As operations grow, McCaffrey said those prices are expected to decrease.
Archer's aircraft, dubbed Midnight, would transport four people and reach speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. A flight from Miami to West Palm Beach would take about 30 minutes. Archer expects to begin test flying as soon as next year once it receives its Federal Aviation Administration certification.
Archer, which is also pursuing air taxi networks in Los Angeles, New York City and Abu Dhabi, is aiming to open operations up to the public by 2028, Rathlev said.
The ambitious timing is underscored by the Trump administration's embrace of eVTOLs.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a new program this year that would fast-track the eVTOL testing process needed for certifications with the Federal Aviation Administration.
It invites private companies and state and local governments to apply with a detailed proposal by a Dec. 19 deadline. The government will select at least five projects in March. Industry players like Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies and Joby Aviation have already signaled that they plan to apply to the program, The Washington Post reported.
Cities awarded spots in the pilot program could begin precertification flights as soon as next year. If Miami isn't chosen, Archer still expects to continue with its operations as scheduled, McCaffrey said.
It isn’t alone among air taxi companies targeting the region for their launches.
Wisk in June started working with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department to identify and assess locations for vertiports at Miami International Airport, Miami Executive Airport and Opa-locka Executive Airport.
The company, which is also establishing networks in Houston, Los Angeles and Brisbane, Australia, expects to be flying autonomous eVTOLs by 2030, but not without having to work with other competitors, especially at existing airports.
But while leading developers and the White House are on board, the business is still untested, Elefteriadou said. With uncertainties around regulations, business models and whether the public will embrace the technology, there are still plenty of “hoops to go through for this,” Elefteriadou said.
Managing expectations is key, because it is easy for the public to lose hope in the process if it doesn't happen as fast as the companies predict, she said.
“There's a lot of unknowns, and I think it's great that effort is at the forefront," Elefteriadou said. “I think it has a lot of potential. It’s just, there's a lot for us to figure out before it becomes tangible for the consumer.”
