U.S: “NCDOT Division of Aviation Announces Beneficiaries of State’s First AAM Planning Grants”

The North Car­oli­na Depart­ment of Trans­porta­tion (NCDOT) and its Divi­sion of Avi­a­tion, announced this week the ben­e­fi­cia­ries of the state’s Advanced Air Mobil­i­ty (AAM) Plan­ning Grants, reports a press release. 

Five munic­i­pal­i­ties and region­al plan­ning organ­i­sa­tions have been award­ed fund­ing to either devel­op or enhance com­mu­ni­ty-focused plans that incor­po­rate cut­ting-edge AAM tech­nolo­gies through a part­ner­ship with NCDOT Avi­a­tion. They are:-

: City of Greens­boro

: Town of Cary

: Cap­i­tal Area Met­ro­pol­i­tan Plan­ning Orga­ni­za­tion (CAMPO)

: Mid-Car­oli­na Coun­cil of Gov­ern­ments

: Forsyth Coun­ty

The USD1 mil­lion funds on offer will sup­port a wide range of plan­ning activ­i­ties includ­ing trans­porta­tion needs assess­ments; land-use and infra­struc­ture plan­ning; mul­ti­modal inte­gra­tion strate­gies; fea­si­bil­i­ty stud­ies; and pol­i­cy and reg­u­la­to­ry align­ment.

These will help com­mu­ni­ties pre­pare for new tech­nolo­gies like eVTOL air­craft and deliv­ery drones, set­ting the stage for their safe and effi­cient inte­gra­tion into exist­ing trans­porta­tion net­works.

Nick Short, Direc­tor of the NCDOT Divi­sion of Avi­a­tion, enthused, “We’re excit­ed to be part of the ground­work that will help com­mu­ni­ties plan and pre­pare for the oppor­tu­ni­ties this tech­nol­o­gy brings.” He con­tin­ued, “These plan­ning projects are about help­ing com­mu­ni­ties take the first steps toward under­stand­ing how advanced air mobil­i­ty can meet local needs.”

A key part of the pro­gram is pub­lic engage­ment to ensure res­i­dents have a voice in shap­ing how AAM ser­vices could ben­e­fit their com­mu­ni­ties. Short added, “Advanced air mobil­i­ty isn’t just about new tech­nol­o­gy. It’s about cre­at­ing new oppor­tu­ni­ties for com­mu­ni­ties.”

By gath­er­ing input ear­ly, com­mu­ni­ties will be empow­ered to make smarter, more inclu­sive deci­sions, lay­ing the ground­work for infra­struc­ture that direct­ly aligns with local needs and pri­or­i­ties, while also enhanc­ing the long-term trans­porta­tion plan­ning process.

Watch Video: “Wing Drone Deliv­ery Now Active in Char­lotte, North Car­oli­na”

North Car­oli­na has been a pio­neer of drone deliv­ery. Dur­ing the Covid lock­down, com­pa­nies like UPS, Mat­ter­net, Zipline and Wing began tri­alling home deliv­er­ies. Today, Wing is par­tic­u­lar­ly active around the state via an expand­ing part­ner­ship with Door­Dash.

For more infor­ma­tion

https://www.ncdot.gov/Pages/default.aspx

(Top image: Door­Dash expand­ed its part­ner­ship with Wing in May offer­ing drone deliv­ery with­in a four-mile radius of a shop­ping cen­tre in Char­lotte, North Car­oli­na — Cred­it: Door­Dash)

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