Monterey Bay DART releases Monterey-San Jose air taxi case study

Monterey Bay Drone, Aviation & Robotics Technology (DART), a nonprofit working on Advanced Air Mobility infrastructure and workforce development, has published a case study examining what early commercial electric air taxi service between Monterey Regional Airport and San Jose Mineta International Airport would mean for the Monterey Bay region. The study models Joby Aviation's S4 aircraft on a hypothetical 67-mile corridor and compares it with ridesharing and household vehicle travel. On travel time, the analysis found that a Visual Flight Rules route could be flown in 30 minutes, against 97 minutes by car in free-flow conditions and 122 minutes at peak, a saving of roughly one to one and a half hours each way before passenger handling time is counted. On emissions, at typical occupancy for each mode, the air taxi would produce about a third of the per-passenger emissions of a gas-powered car, but more than twice those of a comparably occupied electric vehicle. Cost and weather emerged as the main constraints. Using current industry pricing estimates, a seat would run $247, roughly double a standard on-demand rideshare and more than six times the cost of driving. Monterey's marine layer also puts the area in Instrument Flight Rules conditions on about 40 percent of days, over four times the rate recorded at San Jose, which could affect reliability in early operations. Lead author Jordan King, a project analyst at DART, said the intent is to give planners and policymakers a balanced view of both the advantages and the obstacles. The report also sets out infrastructure investment requirements and flags priorities for further work, including passenger demand modelling, multi-vertiport network planning and assessment of other aircraft types. DART developed it with input from BETA Technologies, Caltrans Division of Aeronautics, Joby Aviation, the two airports and Skyway Technologies. The corridor runs along the Monterey Bay region, and DART's earlier work includes supporting Joby Aviation's manufacturing footprint in Marina and helping secure state funding for the California Advanced Air Mobility Corridors Initiative through the Monterey Bay Tech Hub. For Santa Cruz County manufacturers and aviation suppliers, that regional buildout is the nearest source of Advanced Air Mobility demand.