bendedreality.com
| Flying Taxis are Coming to the Skies of Melbourne, Australia
Ridesharing giant Uber plans to start trials of its flying cars next year in Melbourne. The city is the third flagged by Uber for the new taxi service, while it is working to create "first world's aerial rideshare network." One of the most populous cities in Australia is set to become the first international market for Uber Air, beating out cities in Brazil, France, India, and Japan to join Dallas and Los Angeles, as a pilot location for the project. The test flights are scheduled for 2020, while commercial operations are set to kick off in 2023. "We want to make it possible for people to push a button and get a flight," Eric Allison, the global head of Uber Elevate, said on Wednesday. The aerial route is set to cover 19 kilometers from the Central Business District (CBD) to Melbourne Airport and take around 10 minutes, instead of the usual journey that takes from 25 minutes to around an hour. The flight is reportedly expected to cost less than $90, about the same as a trip in a luxury