To the editor: Let me count the reasons why air taxis are a bad idea (“Why an unproven air taxi company is spending $126 million to take over an L.A. airport,” Nov. 24):
They’re a waste of resources. A transportation mode that needs to defy gravity requires much more energy and materials to stay functional than vehicles that simply roll on roads.
They’re a safety concern. Loss of power or control will invariably lead to a likely fatal crash to the ground, possibly onto homes.
They make noise. Urban life is already plagued with too much traffic noise. Introducing the sound of droning robotaxis into virtually any location only exacerbates this inescapable impact on quality of life.
They have a limited potential clientele base. The expense of this mode of transportation means it will largely be the domain of the wealthy. Society at large should not be expected to endure the impacts caused by a wealthy few.
Lastly, investments in air taxis ignore real solutions to our mobility problems, caused by poor urban planning and underdeveloped transit and alternative modes of travel. Land-use revisions that create more widespread access to housing, shopping, work and entertainment, and well-designed density that makes transit, biking and walking viable, are the strategies that will best prepare us for the future.
Kent Strumpell, Los Angeles
