Dubai offers a flying taxi service using autonomous drones

Trials are already underway in Dubai on a new way to zipping through a crowded city. It involves an autonomous drone capable of carrying a passenger ... and some courageous test subjects.

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority examined drones and provided a demonstration of capacity at a recent summit of three days attended by world leaders.

The plan is to have these single-occupant, fully automated bumps in place and running by the middle of this year. The drone used is the one built by the Chinese firm Ehang. It is called the 184 and was presented at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2016. The drone has also been tested in Nevada and although it does not seem to have a massive range or load capacity it is Apparently ready to go.

Ehang's first tests on the 184s made it possible to measure distances of 2.2 miles. This could be useful in a dense city like Dubai, especially for emergencies, but would find it hard to find a foot in other more subway metro areas. Yet the fact that we were even talking about testing a passenger drone autonomous taxi is a reminder that there is some seriously cool technology out there in the world.

It will not be long before we complain about air traffic as if we were background characters in "The Fifth Element". We will also lament for "the good old days" when we used to fly our flying cars all over our own.