Flying Taxis May Help Ease LA Traffic During 2028 Olympics

LOS ANGELES, CA — It's a vision of the future nearly as old as the automobile itself: Flying cars that can effortlessly zip over congested freeways and gridlocked roads. And in notoriously traffic-heavy Los Angeles, that dream could come to fruition in time to ease the transportation challenges posed by the 2028 Summer Olympics.

But like so many ambitious dreams, bringing flying taxis to California isn't an easy task.

Earlier this month, San Jose-based Archer Aviation announced it had been named the Official Air Taxi Provider of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA. It's one of several companies vying to be leaders in what they see as the future of local transportation.

The company plans to use its aircraft, dubbed Midnight, to ferry athletes and visitors between the Southland's spread-out Olympic infrastructure in minutes. Designed to carry up to four passengers, Midnight has 12 electric engines and propellers that help it fly at up to 150 mph. And the company says it's 100 times quieter than a helicopter.

The aircraft — categorized as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOLs) — will operate out of vertiports (as in vertical ports) located throughout the region. That includes locations near SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, LAX, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Long Beach, Van Nuys and Orange County, according to the company.

The biggest barrier for Archer and its competitors is FAA certification — none of the aircraft have gotten government sign off yet. They'll also need to build out infrastructure, hire and train pilots on the brand-new aircraft, establish flight routes and secure enough funding for sustained development.

The Los Angeles Daily News took a deep dive into the eVTOL landscape, looking at the plans the already-secured partnerships of Archer, Joby Aviation, Wisk Aero and Beta Technologies.

Read more at the Daily News.