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Sugar Land, Texas is taking to the skies for some future-minded transportation projects, including a city-funded rideshare service, air taxis, and a gondola-like option.
Blue Sky Take: America is car country through and through, but some cities no longer have the space to accommodate the number of vehicles on the road. Herding some residents away from highways could reduce traffic, cut down on emissions, and save people money.
Between The Skyscrapers: Sugar Land, located southwest of Houston, only has 4% of land left to build on. So, instead of just expanding streets, the sixth-fastest growing city in the US is building new thoroughfares above them.
- It’s piloting a microtransit service that will be more affordable than Uber and Lyft, which will launch with seven EVs.
- It partnered with Wisk Aero on self-flying taxis that will shuttle passengers to dedicated “vertiports” at key destinations like Sugar Land Regional Airport. It should be ready by the end of the decade.
- It’s also teaming up with the startup Whoosh on an electric, on-demand, “autonomous elevated cable and rail mobility system” called Swyft Cities that can hold five passengers. It would be the first in the US (one is being built in New Zealand).
The Future: Sugar Land knows it needs to think outside the box to keep up with population growth — traffic in the area is estimated to increase by 40 to 60% by 2045. The city put together a Mobility Master Plan that concluded the city needed to explore novel transportation options while also making the city easier for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate. If the new modes of transportation convince some residents to leave their cars in the garage on most days, expect plenty of cities to look to Sugar Land as a mobility blueprint.
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