How UAM can win in the court of public opinion

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Advanced air mobility, and in particular urban air mobility (UAM), has the potential to transform the way we live and move – even how we think about distance.

However, for UAM to become a part of our everyday, there are still many hurdles to overcome, including gaining a social licence – trust and acceptance from the general public.

“Just as cars did, UAM can shrink the space between places and help us connect within and between cities. If we get its integration right, it can cut costs and bring faster, more efficient transportation to more people,” says Paul Wheeler, VP of aerial innovation at engineering and consulting firm WSP in the US.

While many people have concerns that will need to be addressed – from fears around safety and security through to noise and environmental pollution – for any given technology there is likely a ‘persuadable’ set of people that haven’t fully formed an opinion.

This provides an opening to demonstrate concrete benefits and a well thought out approach to mitigating risks, notes Doug Yeung, senior behavioural and social scientist at non-profit research and analyst organisation RAND.

With this in mind, what’s the best way to help overcome reservations to this potentially game-changing form of transport? Firstly, take the lessons learnt from the rollout of previous transport innovations.

“If we’ve learned anything from e-scooters and autonomous vehicles, it’s that bringing new technologies into cities without a thoughtful rollout creates chaos,” notes Patrick Arnzen, CEO at aviation school Thrust Flight.

“With scooters there was no plan, just thousands of devices showing up on sidewalks overnight. People got hurt, cities pushed back, and the public soured on something that could have been positive.

“UAM needs a far more deliberate approach. You’re not just adding a new ride option; you’re adding an entirely new dimension to urban transportation. That requires respect for process, clear communication and education from day one.”

Gaining public trust requires bringing the community into the planning process early: far before the first vertiport opens or the first passenger boards. Whether it’s about vertiport locations, flight paths, noise or privacy, if you leave the public out, you’re setting yourself up for resistance.

Research shows that people generally care about how new technologies will be used, therefore communication strategies could discuss UAM uses that will benefit the public, whether that’s delivering goods more efficiently or helping people get to the airport or hospital more quickly, notes Yeung.

Transparency and communication are critical from the start, and developers of UAM solutions need to be leading with facts, not hype.

“We need to be transparent about the risks and benefits. We should share data from test flights. We can take simulators into communities and use VR. I’ve used a game engine to create a realistic digital twin that lets people experience it in real time,” Wheeler says.

“Even better, we can arrange in-person demos and bring real aircraft so people can hear the actual sound profile. When people hear and see it, usually their concerns are addressed.”

Demonstrations have been a key aspect of Joby Aviation’s community engagement strategy. One of Joby head of government policy Greg Bowles’ favourite demos was in New York City.

“This was the first time we’d brought our aircraft out of our test flight area in northern California, and we chose here because well, if you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere,” Bowles laughs.

Aware of concerns raised by Stop the Chop NY/NJ, a local group campaigning against noise pollution produced by helicopters flying over the city and surrounding area, Joby demonstrated its solution to them along, with the local council.

“Everyone came very open-minded and when they watched the demonstration, they said this is what we’ve been waiting for, and its rollout is something that needs to be accelerated,” explains Bowles.

“We truly didn’t know how this group would act, as it was our first engagement with folk who have concerns around helicopter noise, but they really embraced it. This demonstrates the importance of such demos and you’ll see us doing more and more over the coming years.”

Some think that UAMs will just be a premium mode of transport for the wealthy, so it’s also important for local governments and regulators to work together to create the right policies, with city leaders pushing for models that serve wider demographics.

This could include everything from subsidised routes to thoughtful vertiport placement. As Arnzen advises, "The infrastructure must reflect the needs of the whole community”.

“We can set goals and promote options that could benefit the widest range of potential users,” adds Wheeler. “For example, for UAM to serve broader mobility goals – such as reduced congestion – we need to tie it into other modes of transport rather than seeing it as a standalone. When we do it could be part of creating efficiency in our transportation systems as a whole.”

Yeung advises policy makers to consider engaging community members to allow them to influence how UAMs are integrated into their neighbourhoods, pointing to community working groups in places such as Georgia, US, where lawmakers are looking at vertiport plans.

“Many of these engagements are largely advisory, however cities like Petaluma in California have shown that selecting a representative panel of residents to participate in a citizens’ assembly can be effective in coming up with a plan that lawmakers can agree on,” Yeung notes.

Bowles notes that the rollout of UAM, however, won’t be overnight. Even with the best efforts from manufacturers, capacity will remain limited in the near term. Initial deployments, he explains, will focus on communities that are open to embracing the technology, offering a chance to visibly demonstrate its benefits.

“By showcasing UAM in action and allowing people to see others like themselves using it,” he says, “the industry can build trust and gradually win over more hesitant communities.”