Sustainable UAM operations in integrated transport system

Abstract

Purpose Today all domains of life are affected by development of digital technologies. They are seen as shaping the future of transportation as well. This paper aims to identify the development directions of urban air mobility (UAM) applications as driven by sustainability criteria as well as resulting from development of digitalisation, information and communication technologies as well as smart-city related trends. Design/methodology/approach Sustainability was assumed as key indicator standing behind perceived attractiveness of UAM. For defined sustainability – consisting of economic, environmental and social components, the base sustainability level of UAM was analysed. Then the potential for increase of sustainability was examined as resulted from UAM applications taking advantage from smart-city concept. Findings Development of digital technologies can support development of UAM as driving its integration within external systems especially transport systems. Deployment of information and communication technologies creates new opportunities for UAM in terms of multitask applications, shared platforms solutions leading to significant increase level of sustainability of UAM. Practical implications Results of this paper can be directly used by researchers as well as industry. They indicate both the trends related to development of UAM as integrated component of transport system as well as directly describe new, more sustainable UAM applications contributing to the successful implementation of UAM in urban conditions as well as efficient development of smart-city concepts consolidating UAM valuable functionalities. Originality/value Research results cover UAM sustainability definition, description of new, more sustainable UAM applications as well as revolutionary meaning of digital technologies especially in the context of climate neutrality and operational efficiency improvement in four-dimensional urban transport ecosystems.