Uber's Newest Solution to Traffic: Self-flying Drone Taxis

The multi-million dollar app predicts that in 10 years, their users can book a self-piloted drone to take them to their destination of choice, just as easily as they book the app's private cars today.

Since its inception in March 2009, Uber has been gaining popularity as an app that offers users private car bookings that arrive in a matter of 5-10 minutes. It is also gaining ground as a trendsetter in both transportation and technology industries by pioneering services such as UberPOOL, Uber Black Car and other promos connected to their corporate partners.

Unveiling Uber's newest idea last weekend at the Nantucket Conference is Jeff Holden, Uber's head of product. Holden tells technology website Recode that research is currently underway for VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) technology. However, the Birmingham Mail reports that the aircraft being developed would more similar to a small plane than a helicopter in that it would have fixed wings and multiple rotors--allowing drones to glide through the air smoothly and to minimize noise during take off and landing.

Although this kind of technology seems unbelievable, traffic is every city's worst transportation problem, and much efforts have been put into planning and researching for solutions that could overcome the daily gridlock. The Telegraph reports that a Chinese company named Ehang recently unveiled their autonomous quadcopter. The 184, launched earlier this year, can carry a single passenger for as long as 23 minutes. Currently, the cost for this technology is still high at $300,000, but Uber is known to invest heavily on its research and development, allowing them to streamline their services and offer them at consumer-friendly rates.

Not much is known yet about the vehicular and systems upgrades Uber needs to undertake for their newest venture to take flight, but recent activity suggests that Uber is already taking the first step towards their new vision of filling city skylines with auto-piloted commuter vehicles. They launched a driverless car service in Pittsburgh just earlier this month, and are expecting feedback and statistics from their newest experiment to contribute to the research towards their self-piloted drones.