Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority Innovative Transit Technologies Study FINAL DOCUMENT Prepared for: TAMPA BAY AREA REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY July 2020 Prepared by: WSP USA Inc. Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority Innovative Transit Technologies Study Final Report Table of Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Study Background ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Study Approach ............................................................................................................................. 1 2 Aerial Gondolas ..................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Technology Overview .................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Costs ............................................................................................................................................ 11 2.3 Regulatory Considerations .......................................................................................................... 12 2.4 Technology Readiness ................................................................................................................. 13 2.5 Market Connections .................................................................................................................... 14 3 Air Taxis ............................................................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Technology Overview .................................................................................................................. 18 3.2 Impact Considerations ................................................................................................................ 28 3.3 Costs ............................................................................................................................................ 29 3.4 Vendors and Manufacturers ....................................................................................................... 30 3.5 Regulatory Considerations .......................................................................................................... 30 3.6 Technology Readiness ................................................................................................................. 35 3.7 Market Connections .................................................................................................................... 36 4 Hyperloop............................................................................................................................................ 42 4.1 Technology Overview .................................................................................................................. 43 4.2 Impact Considerations ................................................................................................................ 48 4.3 Costs ............................................................................................................................................ 48 4.4 Vendors and Manufacturers ....................................................................................................... 49 4.5 Regulatory Considerations .......................................................................................................... 49 4.6 Technology Readiness ................................................................................................................. 50 4.7 Market Connection Opportunities .............................................................................................. 51 5 Opportunities and Next Steps ............................................................................................................. 54 5.1 Aerial Gondolas ........................................................................................................................... 57 5.2 Air Taxis ....................................................................................................................................... 58 5.3 Hyperloop.................................................................................................................................... 62 7/6/20 Page i TBARTA Innovative Transit Technology Study Figures Figure 1: TBARTA Region ............................................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2: TBARTA ITT Study Process .............................................................................................................. 2 Figure 3: Tier 1 and Tier 2 Regional Activity Centers .................................................................................... 4 Figure 4: Hakone Ropeway ........................................................................................................................... 5 Figure 5: Portland Aerial Tram Tower ........................................................................................................... 6 Figure 6: MGD Emirates Air Line, London ..................................................................................................... 6 Figure 7: Monocable Gondola ....................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 8: Bicable Gondola ............................................................................................................................. 7 Figure 9: Tricable Gondola ............................................................................................................................ 7 Figure 10: Aerial Tram ................................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 11: Koblenz Cable Car Interior ........................................................................................................... 8 Figure 12: Potential Urban Aerial Gondola Connections ............................................................................ 17 Figure 13: "Prediction 1965: Vertical Takeoff and Landing Planes", Popular Mechanics, 1965 ................. 18 Figure 14: Multirotor Aircraft ..................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 15: Lift and Cruise Aircraft ............................................................................................................... 19 Figure 16: Vectored Thrust Aircraft ............................................................................................................ 19 Figure 17: Electric Propulsion Typology for eVTOL ..................................................................................... 20 Figure 18: eVTOL Air Taxi/Air Metro Infrastructure ................................................................................... 25 Figure 19: Uber Elevate Vertiport Infrastructure Rendering ...................................................................... 26 Figure 20: CORGAN Concept for Uber Evolve Air Taxi Service ................................................................... 27 Figure 21: Five Key Areas for Regulatory Evolution for Air Taxi and Air Metro Operations ....................... 32 Figure 22: Local and State Policy Levers ..................................................................................................... 33 Figure 23: Federal, State and Local Regulatory Considerations ................................................................. 33 Figure 24: Electrification and Automation UAM Aircraft Integration ......................................................... 34 Figure 25: UAM Estimated Integration Timeline ........................................................................................ 36 Figure 26: Air Taxi Technology Profile ........................................................................................................ 37 Figure 27: Helipad and Airport Locations ................................................................................................... 40 Figure 28: Potential Regional Air Taxi Connections .................................................................................... 41 Figure 29: Elon Musk Hyperloop Alpha Concept Sketches ......................................................................... 42 Figure 30: Great Lakes Megaregion Hyperloop Network ........................................................................... 44 Figure 31: Hyperloop Capsule and Tube Rendering ................................................................................... 44 Figure 32: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Capsule Concept ....................................................... 45 Figure 33: Hyperloop Transit Profile ........................................................................................................... 51 Figure 34: Distances between major city connections ............................................................................... 53 Figure 35: Potential Hyperloop Connections .............................................................................................. 54 Figure 36: Comparative Transit Markets ...................................................................................................