Are we living in a science fiction movie? You might be forgiven for thinking so while reading recent headlines, including those detailing the apparent future of rideshare apps and their capacity to change transportation, and the world, as we know it.

Consider reports about the development of an autonomous taxi service called Zoox. The Amazon-backed company has indicated that its fleet of driverless cars would be introduced, starting in Las Vegas and San Francisco, in late 2025. It promises that the vehicles have been comprehensively safety tested, and it highlights a novel safety feature, in the form of a proprietary, inverted-horseshoe–shaped airbag that can limit the impact of a collision on riders.

Beyond the company’s own claims, reports on the state of self-driving technology suggest that it really is ready for implementation. In particular, experts note that the defensive decisions that these vehicles make, informed by massive data and AI-based decision-making capabilities, lead to faster, more responsive, and more accurate reactions to driving conditions and other vehicles’ movements than any human driver might achieve. 

Advanced capabilities do not mean perfection though. Even as the preponderance of evidence indicates that driverless cars are safer than those driven by humans, who might be tired, frustrated, or distracted at any given moment, anecdotal evidence of accidents gain a lot of traction in the news. When a pedestrian was struck, run over, and trapped under a robotaxi, news outlets covered the horrifying incident more widely than they would a similar incident involving a human driver. 

As the viability and safety of driverless cars continue to be debated, the transportation sector also continues to aim higher—literally. In a partnership with Uber and Delta, a company called Joby Aviation has designed an “electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft,” or eVTOL for short. Regular consumers might just refer to them as air taxis. Offering quiet, cost-effective, rapid transport, the air taxis are set to begin transporting passengers in Dubai soon, while the company also works to gain certification from the U.S. FAA. 

Its current eVTOL aircraft can travel about 100 miles on a single charge, such that its primary market involves customers looking to make quick, short trips by air. The electric design promises a comfortable, quiet, and pollution-free ride, which passengers might catch at local heliports. To appeal to as many of these potential fliers as possible, Joby has focused on expanding its heliport locations while also exploring the possibility of using parking structures or rooftops as take-off and landing pads. In addition, to make ordering the service convenient for people, Joby is developing an on-demand app so users can request an eVTOL ride on their phones, similar to the way they might call an Uber or Lyft. Finally, it is determined to keep the option affordable, through careful controls over its operational expenses. It anticipates that the price per person for an eVTOL ride will be comparable to that of an Uber Black trip, and it has committed to finding ways to lower those prices further, especially as the technology becomes more ubiquitous.

The comparisons with ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft are obvious. But for both of these new markets, involving autonomous vehicles or air taxis, the differences might be more instructive. Ridesharing gained ground and adoption quickly because it filled a regular, common need in a way that demanded little additional effort by consumers. Getting people to catch a ride without a driver or commute in the sky might not be quite so easy, considering the clear safety concerns that these alternative forms of transportation evoke. The future of transport may be here, but it still looks pretty uncertain.

Discussion Questions

1. What promotions and inducements could Zoox and Joby introduce to convince more early adopters to try out their offerings? 
2. What safety regulations should lawmakers introduce to protect customers who choose to ride with autonomous vehicles and air taxis?

Sources: Daniella Genovese, “The Flying Taxi: A Look at the Future of Travel,” FOX Business, March 8, 2025; Kirsten Korosec, “RIP, Cruise Robotaxi,” TechCrunch, December 12, 2024; Sunny Tsai, “Fleet of Amazon-Backed Self-Driving Taxis Will Soon Hit the Las Vegas Streets with Public Rides,” FOX Business, March 6, 2025