Takeoff from Orlando to Tampa? Ron DeSantis says vertiports are under construction

In what sounds like an announcement right out of “The Jetsons,” two vertiports to fly people around are being constructed at the FDOT SunTrax^[1] testing facility in Central Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis^[2] said Thursday.

“This will be the nation’s first advanced air mobility test track, and it will have dedicated airspace,” DeSantis said during the Bartow news conference^[3]. “Florida’s going to be a place where it’ll be a testing ground for this new technology.”

This airborne Uber concept came after DeSantis discussed vertiports during meetings part of his international trade mission^[4] to the Paris Air Show this Summer.

“One of the things that was kind of in vogue is this advanced air mobility. They kind of look like almost like a helicopter, but they don’t have the propeller,” DeSantis said. “They just have like little small wings and they just go straight up.”

Drivers know Interstate 4 can be a particularly nightmarish trek from Orlando to Tampa, which could benefit if the vertiports take off, literally, DeSantis said.

The vertiports could each carry about four passengers and travel within 60 miles. 

DeSantis didn’t discuss how much this experiment could cost, although he acknowledged, “If they can make it economical, it would take some traffic off the road.”

DeSantis sounded hopeful but skeptical.

“I would say that I was mildly interested and then mildly excited,” he said when he first heard of the concept. “I do have questions, too.”

The announcement came as DeSantis highlighted road construction projections getting sped up through his Moving Florida Forward^[5] initiative.

The state plans to conduct an I-4 expansion to add new lanes on 17 miles in Hillsborough County from Interstate 75 to County Line Road. The construction project, initially budgeted for 2037, will start in 2027.

“That is going to make a big difference for folks (who) are traveling in that Hillsborough County^[6] section of Interstate 4,” DeSantis said. “It will increase reliable traffic flow, and it will give people a better option to be able to get from the Tampa area into Central Florida or vice versa.”