BARTOW, Fla. (WFLA)— Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a new test site in Polk County for flying cabs.
DeSantis, alongside state Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, spoke on the new technology, “vertiports,” that they hope will reduce traffic on Interstate 4.
The new aerial testing site will be at the Florida Department of Transportation SunTrax facility in Polk County.
“They kinda look like a helicopter, but they don’t have the propeller. They just kind of have little small wings, and they just go straight up and then kind of take you,” DeSantis said.
The vertiports are battery-powered and designed to go about 60 miles.
DeSantis said in a news conference last week that he rode in one at the Paris Air Show and said he was “mildly excited” about the high-tech transportation.
The new technology can transport around four to five people with a pilot.
“It would be more of an air version of an ‘Uber’ going to and from places,” DeSantis said.
He said the new technology would not be used to transport from Jacksonville to Miami; it is more suitable for one urban city to the next.
According to Perdue, the new vertiports are on track to be federally approved in 2026 and will be privately owned.
“It is essentially the age of flying cars. How can we support the private sector being successful. Speed to market. You cut through the red tape, you give them the ability to start operating and operating quickly and become profitable,” Perdue said.
Perdue hopes that Florida will be the first place where they start flying once the new technology is approved.
The new announcement came during a news conference where DeSantis announced the expansion of I-4 from I-75 to County Line Road in Polk County.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
