Concepts Revealed for Dallas Uber ‘Skyports'

Imagine buzzing from Frisco to downtown Dallas in a matter of minutes. That’s the vision of Uber, which plans to pioneer its flying taxi service in North Texas. Now we're getting a better of idea of what Uber Air might look like when it gets off the ground in a few years.

Design teams revealed their latest ideas for the "skyports" where electric-powered aircraft would land and take off. Among those presenting at the Uber Elevate Summit in Washington were designers from Corgan, an architectural firm headquartered in downtown Dallas.

"We've had people around the world working on this," said John Trupiano, who leads the Corgan effort.

Also at the summit: North Texas developer Ross Perot Jr. Perot's Hillwood organization is Uber's lead partner in developing the new skyports.

Corgan drafted skyport concepts for two hypothetical sites: downtown Dallas and the city's northern suburbs. The downtown skyport would be built over a highway, reflecting the fact that the aircraft will fly along pathways that largely follow current roads. The suburban skyport was conceived as an existing parking garage converted into an Uber hub.

Both of Corgan's skyport designs include features to make them more than just a transportation stop. Stores, restaurants, performance spaces and parks are all part of the plan. That's in addition to connections to other Uber services, such as bikes, scooters and driverless cars.

The skyports would also be on the cutting edge of sustainability, with solar technology to harness power to charge the vehicles.

Trupiano is convinced that something similar to these visions will become reality in North Texas.

"It's going to happen here," he said. "It's closer than you think."

How close?

Uber gave the designers a deadline. They had to create something that could be in operation by the year 2023.

NBC 5 News