导读:优步首席产品官宣布，十年内优步垂直升降飞行器将问世，为未来奠定新格局
Well, this is an interesting turn. In order to better handle the transportation needs of urban dwellers, Uber is looking into vehicles that could take off and land vertically. In other words...flying taxis.
为了更好地满足城市居民的交通需求，优步正在研发可以垂直起飞、垂直降落的交通工具，也就是…飞行出租车。嗯，这是一个有趣的转折点。
In a discussion at the Nantucket Conference yesterday, Uber products head Jeff Holden said the company has been looking into offering short flights around cities “so we can someday offer our customers as many options as possible to move around,” according to Recode. The Uber product boss did not specify whether the vertical-takeoff-and-landing craft, or VTOL, would be piloted like traditional aircraft, remote-controlled, fully autonomous, or some combination thereof, like Airvinci’s helicopter drones .
昨天在楠塔基特岛会议会的一次讨论中， 优步首席产品官杰夫·霍顿表示，公司一直在研发城市短程飞行方案。根据科技微博《记录》上的描述“以便有一天我们能为出行的顾客提供尽可能多的出行选择”。这款垂直起飞降落的飞行器，或者VTOL将会是怎样的操作模式？是传统的飞机那样由人工驾驶，还是远程遥控，亦或是自动驾驶，还是说像Airvinci个人飞行器那样，以上几种模式都有? 杰夫?霍顿并没有提及。
Holden claimed the technology could be available within a decade; that said, clearing the legislative and logistic hurdles involved with creating a network of flying taxis in a dense urban environment...especially considering the millions of drones that may clog the nation’s airspace by then, delivering burritos and pizza to hungry, lazy consumers.
霍顿称，这项技术预计能在十年内问世；也就是说，到时城市上空会有成千上万的飞行器轰鸣来往川流不息，给又饿又懒的顾客送去卷饼和披萨，届时可能整个国家的领空都会发生拥堵。这么一想，要在密集的城市建立飞行出租车交通网，来自国家相关立法和管理的阻碍肯定十分巨大，而优步必须跨过去。
Uber has previously dabbled in flight, offering on-demand helicopter services in markets like Sao Paolo, Brazil. Those efforts, however, were more of a marketing endeavor than an actual attempt to provide mass-market transportation, according to Holden.
此前优步曾涉足空中运输，如在巴西圣保罗提供随需应变的直升机。然而，霍顿表示，与其说那是一种面向民众提供运输的实际尝试，倒不如说是一种营销。
Holden said he sees the urban flight operations as a far more awesome form of UberPool, in which users could share flying vehicles as they hop between rooftops. In time, he said, VTOL transportation could play a key role in Uber’s goal of ultimately eliminating private car ownership. (Did it just get chilly in here? We just started shivering.)
霍顿说，他可以预见，市内飞行将会成为一种绝妙的网络拼车方式，当飞行出租车在屋顶间跳来跳去的时候，用户可以拼乘一架飞行器。他说，优步的最终目标是消除私家车保有量，届时，垂直起降运输将会为实现这个目标起到至关重要的作用。（说到这里，你难道只是感觉背后一凉吗？我们都打寒颤了！）
While most of Uber’s current operations are software-based, with the app simply connecting drivers and riders, the ride-hailing company has been pushing into the hardware side of the industry with increasing vigor. Earlier this month, the company deployed its inaugural fleet of self-driving cars out of its laboratory in Pittsburgh—an effort that Holden has also been deeply involved with.
虽然当前优步的大部分业务是通过软件运行，即是通过app简单地将司机和乘客联系起来的，但是这家打车公司一直致力并且越来越热衷于推动产业硬件方面的建设。本月早些时候，该公司在匹兹堡推出了无人驾驶出租车，霍顿本人也尽心尽力参与其中。
