It’s a little known fact that Ian Fleming, the creator of suave superspy James Bond, was also the writer of the wonderful children’s book, ‘Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang’. It was in 1968, four years after the author’s death, when the movie version saw Dick Van Dyke et al take off in their miraculous flying car to take on the evil Baron Bomburst.

Chitty has always been one of my favorite kiddy flicks: So much so that I recently, quite unashamedly declared to my daughter, “What? They’ve never seen it!” as a weak excuse to show it to my grandchildren. After watching the movie with great delight, my six-year-old granddaughter asked, “Why don’t we have a car that flies like that?” to which I responded, “Well, you might have one some time soon. But it won’t look anything like the one you just saw.”

Driverless cars, vertical-takeoff electric air taxis (autonomous or otherwise) and miscellaneous other modes of ‘urban mobility vehicle’ (UMV) are suddenly the talk of the town. They are no longer the stuff of ‘Jetsonesque’ fantasy – like it or not, it is for real, and no amount of Ludditism is going to keep it at bay. That said, to avoid a disastrous case of ‘City-City-Bang-Bang’, the powers that be are going to have to step up and exercise some serious new-world controls over the incoming UMV techno-tide.

To this end, the US Transportation Research Board recently hosted a panel discussion on automation technology in the transportation space and the rulemaking processes that will be required to govern them. The panelists discussed automated driving systems, self-driving cars, unmanned aircraft systems and “the spectrum allocation for these new technologies” which presumably means how they will all safely dovetail with existing modes of transportation.

At the gathering, Jay Merkle, the executive director of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office, spoke regarding the future of “aerial mobility” which he described as, “… aircraft that fill that void from 30 miles to 300 miles, between the small drones and the commercial aircraft we know today. “

He went on to say that the biggest question he gets on this is, “Are these things really happening?” To which his standard response is, “Yes, this is more than just hype. We have at least six aircraft well along in their type certification, which is the first step in introducing the new aircraft into operation. We are beginning to work on integrating them operationally with the pilot requirements and the airline operating requirements. We are also beginning to work on the airspace integration as well.”

That last line is the one I was most relieved to hear. Figuring out how these things can get off the ground is one thing, just how air traffic control is going to keep them there, and at a safe distance from each other, would seem to be a much greater challenge – with or without pilots on board.

As if speaking directly to people like me, Mr. Merkle then went on to say how, “The biggest lesson learned out of all of this work has not been the underlying technology but it’s been helping the public to embrace these innovative technologies?” He continued, “These urban air mobility vehicles tend to be electric-driven and have tremendous power requirements for recharging. There are problems getting people to and from these aircraft. They want to use space on top of existing buildings as landing areas but most elevators don’t go to the roof. So they will have to redesign elevators to get passengers up to those areas.”

There you have it – it’s simply a matter of redesigning elevators to get you to your rooftop and having suitable power outlets there to recharge your UMV.

All joking aside however, if you watch Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang today it all seems sadly dated and outmoded. The special effects that had Dick Van Dyke and family winging their way through Vulgarian skies, simply don’t hold a candle to the amazing cinematographic CG trickery in today’s movies.

This set me to wondering just what kind of flying cars and other modes of UMV will probably be commonplace by the time my granddaughter reaches my grand old age. Could it be she’ll be telling her grandchildren that, “Once upon a time people used to fly in big stinky things called ‘aeroplanes’. They were very noisy and only flew from awful places called airports, where they needed special big long roadways – they called them runways – just to get off the ground. Then once in the air, they polluted the atmosphere with nasty fumes. Okay kids, let’s get you up to the roof, your school-copter will be here in two minutes.”

So, Rest in Peace “Our fine four-fendered friend” – it looks like it’s time to, “Meet George Jetson.”