Planning for Advanced Air Mobility

Abstract:

Advanced air mobility (AAM) has the potential to impact communities' access to air mobility, goods delivery, and emergency services in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Though AAM is still in the early days of development, this emerging transportation sector could result in fundamental changes to the built environment. Communities should be prepared to minimize the potential for adverse impacts and maximize the likelihood of sustainable and equitable outcomes.

PAS Report 606, Planning for Advanced Air Mobility, presents planners and policymakers with the foundational knowledge to understand important considerations for AAM development and potential community impacts. It provides information for the public sector to integrate AAM into planning and policymaking at the local and regional levels of government, and it highlights the need for greater awareness about AAM and its potential impacts among communities, which may have little prior experience with aviation planning issues.

The report defines AAM and presents a snapshot of the current state of the industry. It addresses the potential impacts of AAM on communities and how this could shape public perception of this sector, including important social equity considerations. The report explores the potential to repurpose or create new infrastructure for AAM and integrate these facilities into existing multimodal transportation networks. It offers guidance on integrating AAM into local and regional planning and regulatory processes, and it shares the experiences of communities that are beginning to address AAM in their plans and policies.

While AAM presents opportunities, issues such as community impacts, social equity, land use compatibility, and multimodal integration could create challenges for its deployment. Planners are well-positioned to help their communities understand, prepare for, and guide the evolution of AAM. This PAS Report provides the guidance they will need.

This report is available for download on the American Planning Association website.

Authors:

ADAM COHEN

Adam Cohen has over 20 years of experience as a researcher with the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and 17 years of experience as a researcher with the Mineta Transportation Institute of San Jose State University. He serves as an expert contributor and board member for the Community Air Mobility Initiative, chairs the Transportation Research Board Standing Committee on Emerging and Innovative Public Transport and Technologies (AP020), and co-teaches a UC Berkeley professional development course on airport systems planning and design.

SUSAN SHAHEEN, PHD

Susan Shaheen, PhD, is a professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and Co-Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS)-Berkeley and directs the UC ITS' Resilient and Innovative Mobility Initiative. She served as Chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Executive Committee in 2021 and Vice Chair in 2020. In May 2016, she was named one of the top 10 academic thought leaders in transportation by the Eno Transportation Foundation, and she received the 2017 Roy W. Crum Award from TRB for her distinguished achievements in transportation research.

YOLANKA WULFF, JD

Yolanka Wulff, JD, is the Executive Director of the Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the responsible and sustainable integration of aviation into community transportation through education, communication, and collaboration. Before co-founding CAMI in 2019, she was a sustainable aviation consultant for 10 years. She is a member of the Federal Aviation Administration's Advanced Aviation Advisory Committee, the Transportation Research Board New Users of Shared Airspace Committee, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association Electric Propulsion Innovation Committee, and the Vertical Flight Society (VFS) Board of Directors, and she organizes and convenes the annual VFS Electric Aircraft Symposium.

Published:

March 2024

Keywords:

Advanced air mobility

Planning and policy

Infrastructure

Multimodal