Unified Urban Surface and Air Mobility Traffic Management: Concept of Operations and Microsimulation Modeling

Abstract

Technological advancements are reshaping the transportation landscape, pointing toward a future that incorporates three-dimensional (3D) mobility. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a concept that leverages electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to provide comprehensive 3D transportation services. However, existing UAM concepts often lack true door-to-door service, requiring additional travel modes (e.g., walking, public transit, or private vehicles) to complete trips. Emerging advancements in aerial vehicle technology offer a transformative solution by integrating eVTOL capabilities with surface-drive functionality, enabling seamless 3D travel within a single vehicle. This Ph.D. research introduces the unified Urban Surface and Air Mobility (USaAM) concept, which incorporates fly-drive vehicles into both current and future connected and automated vehicle (CAV) traffic systems without necessitating extensive infrastructure investments, such as large-scale vertiports. A novel traffic control framework is developed to manage surface-airborne interactions, specifically addressing operational challenges related to takeoff and landing. Existing simulation tools predominantly focus on either ground or air transportation or analyze their integration at macroscopic and mesoscopic scales, often overlooking detailed microscopic interactions. To bridge this gap, this research develops the first microsimulation platform in NetLogo capable of modeling complex interactions between fly-drive vehicles and conventional cars. The study follows a three-phase approach: (1) developing and evaluating a concept for integrating surface and airborne traffic within the existing vehicle fleet, (2) enhancing this integration through a reservation-based traffic system for a CAV fleet, and (3) designing and evaluating intelligent landing strategies for USaAM using Python scripting within the PTV Vissim microsimulation tool. Various USaAM scenarios are simulated on both a hypothetical three-intersection network and a real-world-like 13-intersection urban arterial under diverse traffic demand conditions. This Ph.D. research contributes to understanding the feasibility and limitations of integrating fly-drive vehicles into urban transportation systems and represents a significant step toward developing a state-of-the-art microsimulation tool for future 3D transportation. Additionally, this research provides a distinctive perspective that advances the current body of knowledge, paving the way for future innovations in integrated 3D urban mobility.