Erik Chalhoub here, living right in the middle of a region that sees the future of travel in the skies.
The Central Coast is a hub of activity for the emerging advanced air mobility industry, highlighted by Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation’s operations at the Marina Municipal Airport and Archer Aviation’s footprint at the Salinas Municipal Airport. (Archer announced Monday, Oct. 19 that its air taxi departed from Salinas and flew more than 300 miles around the San Francisco Bay Area. Joby, meanwhile, showcased an aircraft that flew across the country using its autonomous technology in September.)
Those involved want the world to know, which is why they recently released a prospectus, The Central Coast: Built to Prove What’s Next, as a way to attract those in the aviation field to invest in this region.
“It’s designed to tell a larger regional story and give us all a tool to communicate what exists here,” Tahra Goraya, president and CEO of Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, said during a virtual meeting announcing the report. “It helps connect training to industry opportunity. It is a picture for what exists today and a tool for what’s next.”
The industry is here. But with that comes a reality of our area: The weather is often too foggy—and that presents a challenge for air transportation.
That was one of the takeaways from a report recently authored by Jordan King, a project analyst at Monterey Bay Drone, Aviation and Robotics Technology (DART), which examined what an air taxi route between Monterey and San Jose could look like.
The study looked at how long travel could take in the 67 miles between Monterey Regional Airport and San Jose Mineta International Airport, either from a Joby aircraft or by ground vehicle.
Not including time for passengers to board the aircraft, the study estimated the trip could be completed in 30 minutes, compared to 97 minutes by vehicle with no traffic, or 122 minutes during rush hour.
Carbon emissions are significantly reduced by roughly two-thirds compared to a gas-powered vehicle, yet are still double those of an all-electric vehicle, according to the study.
And then there’s the cost, roughly estimated at $247 per person, or twice those of rideshare services and multiple times more than a personal vehicle.
“Early adopters of air taxi service are therefore likely to be time-sensitive travelers and visitors for whom time savings and novelty outweigh cost, rather than routine commuters,” the report states.
The Monterey Peninsula’s marine layer causes poor flight conditions about 40 percent of the days of the year, according to the study, compared to 10 percent around San Jose—and both areas’ conditions need to be acceptable at the same time.
“This air taxi route has clear advantages in time and emissions, but our findings also show that cost and weather reliability are two challenges that will impact the use of these services,” King said.
Transportation will always be a game of compromises and impacts. How much one is willing to accept is up to the traveler, but the old adage remains true: Time is money.