A commuter's dream: Entrepreneurs race to develop flying car

It will never happen until we first discover new propulsion system, if possible silent and small, and have a full driver-less experience for safety reason, which is already very hard to do in 2 dimensions without guide system so even harder in 3 dimensions.

We've been dreaming about flying cars for a very, very long time and to be honest, I'm not sure if it'll take off (pardon the pun) many of us can't even drive properly on the highways or even merge properly, then how do you expect us to have a smooth ride up in the sky, not to mention our skies are already cluttered with thousands of planes already. Air traffic is already overly atrocious, that's not to say I'm against the development of sky cars, quite the opposite, on the contrary, but I'm a bit more cautious about the reliability of this system.

it's like the hydrogen car. They think it makes sense until you're overcoming so many obstacles you wonder why you just don't ride a bicycle and fix the urban design so everything is 10-15 minutes away. That would be 10000x times more useful, and have the side benefits of near zero pollution, and longer lifespans

Of course this could be future, how could anybody not think it could? Self-driving cars will lead to much less necessary car space, making it possible for downtown regulated air traffic spots. Don't judge futuristic ideas based on current, already out-of-date reality opinions. May-be landing spots are on rooftops? Who knows how exciting the near-future will be!

air taxis, sure. But for the most part they will be single flyers with only backpack space. for 20 km trios to the city nightlife. they will be leased to a coop of members, or just a beater for anyone with a credit card( I won't share with sorts who don't wash their socks) like a flying telephone booth, yet aerodynamic. like the hibernation podes in those sci-fi flics. short runners with high rev props land pad holds battery pack unit. we will all have paraglider licenses for emergencies.. long distance capsules will take off as rockets and dive land. port cities will see real estate value spikes due to the safer aspect of hurtling towards large bodies of water rather than land...

Flying cars have been around for many years. Naturally, many were dinosaurs at birth, but quite a few have been well-designed and fulfilled their roles well. Naturally as new materials and concepts drift into each year they will eventually become very practical, and be used all over the world. With this scene will come horrendous accidents and loss of life, but hey, that's what progress has been all about.

Or, just give Mr. Travolta a ring. What, you didn't think this is really about air taxi's?

Not really a dream. You would have to walk to and from the nearest landing spot, likely with a comparable spacing to car share spots. The vehicles would have downtime for charging and lots of empty runs, especially in the rush hour. Daily equipment inspections and repairs would be necessary; with insurance and energy costs and all the infrastructure, it soon becomes very expensive for the customer.

You probably wouldn't even be allowed to use them after drinking.

I can see them being a novelty, for holiday resorts and fun trips like those Mario karts, but very few people could use them on a daily basis and they would have no effect on congestion. If congestion bothers you, use the train or a bike.

NEVER going to happen for regular people unless it is 100% computer controlled. Just look on any street in any country and you will see people doing stupid and quite dangerous (read as illegal) things while driving with running red lights and changing lanes with no signals at the top of the list. Do you seriously think putting that mentality up in the air would be a good idea? Commercial pilots have a saying that the most dangerous part of their day is driving to and from the airport.

I wish they'd race to more & better alternative energy sources...

Guess the Back to the Future II anniversary a year and a couple months back has finally got them moving.