RoboAirTaxi “sounds like an accident waiting to happen”

21% would fly in a automated air taxi

 A third of Canadians are wary of air taxis and urban drones if the federal government is responsible for regulating traffic, says in-house Department of Transport research.

Blacklock’s Reporter reports the studies findings on April 22, noting “A third of respondents, 31 percent, have low trust in the Government of Canada to handle the implementation of the technology.”

This study follows 2021 research by the National Research Council that asked Canadians whether they’d ever take a flying taxi.  “Most participants are not quite comfortable with flying taxi cabs,” said the earlier study. “Some feel the sounds would disturb them, others feel flying taxicabs ‘sound like an accident waiting to happen.’”

“A majority of respondents, 63 percent, have conditional support for advanced air mobility, indicating their support depends on specific circumstances,” said a report. Canadians told the transport department they’d accept robot flights for emergency services.

The report notes that respondents said they were most comfortable with the following applications in urban areas: search and rescue operations (81 percent), firefighting (78 percent), emergency medical services (78 percent), aerial surveying and inspections (70 percent) and logistic and cargo transport (60 percent).

 “Other types of applications receive a lower level of comfort, notably tourism and sightseeing (58 percent) and home deliveries (53 percent).”

Findings were drawn from questionnaires with 2,717 people nationwide for the Public Opinion Research Study On Examining The Social Acceptance Of Advanced Air Mobility By The Canadian Public. The transport department paid Léger Marketing Inc. $71,874 for the research.

“The deployment of advanced air mobility may offer social, economic and environmental benefits including improved access to remote communities, new business opportunities and the potential for increased safety and reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” said Air Mobility. “However low levels of social acceptance by the Canadian public may limit the uptake in Canadian society.”

A total 41 percent of Canadians said they would ride in an air taxi if there was a pilot. Only 21 percent would take a robot taxi flight. Similarly half of pedestrians surveyed, 52 percent, said they would feel safe with piloted air taxis overhead. Only 25 percent trusted robot taxis flying overhead.