More ways to pointlessly waste energy to benefit a few when there is a climate crisis that demands more energy efficiency, such as via terrestrial mass transportation.
I don't think air taxis in cities will be particularly beneficial to society, but I think the underlying technology will be very beneficial.
It's like the Tesla Roadster. A toy for rich people. But it helped kick-start the EV revolution. Which didn't just give us electric cars, but eventually also electric buses which are just a godsend for cities IMO. (I had an almost auditory whiplash when I visited Taipei because the new electric buses looks like exactly like the old ICE buses, and the ICE buses they have there are SO loud in a city that's already too loud.. and then this EV bus just passes by completely silently.. but I digress.. way too much)
We have a lot of very small airports here in Norway which are underutilized. Sometimes you end up taking a plane to a larger regional airport only to take a 2 hour bus ride to a town.. that has an airport..
Electric aircrafts will unlock the potential of these airports, since the planes will be cheaper to operate and much more silent (the airports could be close to the town center), and I'm quite sure it'll be significantly more energy efficient than traveling to these cities today. Electric planes can be very energy efficient per passenger km. So if a train is not an option they could beat all other modes in efficiency.
Good point, and also kicked off electric semi-trucks and pickup trucks:
> Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles account for less than 5% of the vehicles on the road but produce over 20% of the emissions from the transportation sector, which currently accounts for more than one-third of U.S. green-house gas emissions.
Most of the Amazon Prime trucks in my area (Hillsboro, OR (Portland Metro) are now electric Rivian, and those things are running probably 20+ hours a day.
