Urban air mobility: A comprehensive review and comparative analysis with autonomous and electric ground transportation for informing future research

Urban air mobility (UAM), if successful, will disrupt urban transportation. UAM is not the first disruptive technology in transportation, with recent examples including electric ground vehicles (EVs), autonomous ground vehicles (AVs), and sharing services. In this paper, we conduct a meta-analysis of about 800 articles in the UAM, EV, and AV areas that have been published from January 2015 to June 2020, and compare and contrast research thrusts in order to inform future UAM research. Alongside this effort, we conduct an in-depth review of articles related to demand modeling, operations, and integration with existing infrastructure. We use insights from the meta-analysis and comprehensive review to inform future UAM research directions. Some of the potential research directions we identify include: (1) developing more refined demand models that incorporate the timing of when individuals will adopt UAM; (2) developing high-fidelity simulation models for UAM operations that capture interactions among vertiport locations, vertiport topology, demand, pricing, dispatching, and airspace restrictions; (3) explicitly considering one-way demand and parking constraints in demand and operational models; and (4) developing more realistic time-of-day energy profiles for UAM vehicles in order to assess whether the current electrical grid can support UAM operations.