Imagine not being trapped in traffic every morning, watching the red light switch over and over again, and not being pushed by the crowd in the crowded subway. All you have to do is swipe your mobile phone at the vertical take-off and landing point in front of your house to make an appointment. A small air taxi slowly lands, and you step into the cockpit. Ten minutes later, it has crossed dozens of kilometers and landed firmly on the roof of the office building. The "flying" commute in the future may be so simple and natural.

Air taxi sounds like a setting in a science fiction movie, but it is getting closer and closer to reality. With the rapid development of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL), personal air travel has moved from laboratory to application scenario for the first time. These aircraft are small in size, usually only accommodate two to four people, but they have flexible flight capabilities and can take off and land vertically like drones without long runways. They are more like a kind of "bike-sharing" in the air, specially designed for short-distance and point-to-point efficient commuting in cities.

Compared with traditional helicopters, air taxis have lower noise, less energy consumption, and even rely entirely on electric drive, with emissions close to zero. This not only conforms to the trend of sustainable development in the future, but also provides a new solution for urban air quality and carbon emission reduction targets. Imagine that in the morning rush hour sky, more than a dozen quiet electric aircraft pass smoothly, and the noise of the city becomes small under your feet. That kind of freedom and efficiency is unmatched by any ground transportation.

However, "flying" is not only a novel and cool experience, but also a reshaping of lifestyle. Time will be completely redefined. In the past, the one-hour commute to and from work may be reduced to fifteen minutes, and the time saved can be used for fitness, accompanying family members, or investing in work creation earlier. And this kind of efficiency improvement is not only a personal gain, but also reconstructs the operation logic of the whole city. The boundary of the city will be re-stretched, the distribution of people's living and working areas will be more flexible, and the distance between the suburbs and the city center will be greatly shortened, which really makes it possible to "live far away and work near".

Of course, it is not an easy task for air taxis to enter daily life. It needs extremely high safety certification, a brand-new air traffic control system, and a change in public psychology from "fear of flying" to "habit of flying". Infrastructure should also be matched. In the future, we may see special "air taxi stations" on the roofs of office buildings, community centers and even shopping malls. Moreover, the price must also go down the ladder of "luxury goods" and become similar to taking a taxi before it can be truly popularized.

More interestingly, air taxis are not just commuting tools. It may change the way of traveling. In the future, people can book an aircraft and arrive at suburban attractions in a few minutes. It may also become a "life-saving car" in an emergency to help patients get to the hospital quickly; Even in the smart city system in the future, it will become an indispensable traffic node of the city like elevators and subways.

At present, many technology companies and aviation startups are already in pilot operation, and cities all over the world are planning exclusive routes. Maybe a few years later, the word "flying", which is still a bit ridiculous today, will become a common daily expression like "taking a taxi" and "ordering takeout".

The future life picture often starts from the imagination, and the air taxi is the product of such an imagination gradually landing. Maybe soon, we will stop worrying about traffic jams and simply say, "Let's go and fly there."

（Writer：Ganny）