Innovative Aviation
Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is a new transportation mode that includes electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and similar innovative concepts such as unmanned and remotely piloted systems operating at low altitudes (typically under 5,000 feet) that move people and cargo and provide emergency services.
Unlike traditional aviation, AAM is designed to integrate into urban and regional environments through a network of takeoff and landing infrastructure, similar to heliports, known as vertiports. This network operates cohesively with existing transportation networks and addresses specific regional challenges such as emergency response access, freight and logistics, underserved connectivity, and people movement.
Planning for AAM
The San Diego region is preparing for the day when AAM operations are ready to deploy at scale. This effort was supported in part by a Caltrans Strategic Partnerships Planning Grant. Caltrans also provided support on our project development team.
SANDAG and our partners have developed interconnected resources to support jurisdictions as they begin their own AAM planning efforts. The Regional Strategic Implementation Toolkit and its related SmartAtlas Spatial Siting Methodology will help ensure that we all operate from the same knowledge base, understand existing conditions, and make informed, localized decisions. Our goal is to help jurisdictions implement solutions that are:
- Intentional, accessible, and generated based on community input
- Well-coordinated across jurisdictions, using shared language and frameworks
- Grounded in a regional perspective to enhance emergency services, freight resilience, border logistics, and eventually people movement
- Integrated into existing transportation and emergency response systems
The Regional Strategic Implementation Toolkit
The toolkit includes five chapters plus supplemental information:
- Chapter 1: AAM Resources defines AAM and provides information on key industry actors, use cases, and SANDAG's guiding principles built from regional priorities.
- Chapter 2: Policy Framework and Strategy outlines policy and operational foundations that account for San Diego's unique landscape, including military airspace issues, border dynamics, and grid capacity.
- Chapter 3: Case Studies and Analysis provides localized scenarios to support jurisdictional siting methodology guided by the SmartAtlas tool, using data and analyses grounded in San Diego geography and infrastructure.
- Chapter 4: Infrastructure Requirements includes information on design standards, technical specifications, vertiport types, and anticipated maturity timelines, and it explores potential implementation scenarios across the region.
- Chapter 5: Implementation Considerations for San Diego provides a condensed implementation vision, a phased roadmap, and a strategic timeline, positioning the region to build institutional readiness now so we can move quickly and decisively when the market matures.
- Appendices and extended references include spatial data layers for the companion SmartAtlas, a complete outreach toolkit, additional technical materials, and an Industry & Market Assessment Report.
The SmartAtlas: Spatial Siting Methodology for AAM Opportunity
In Chapter 3, the SmartAtlas applies a weighted spatial siting methodology across three primary AAM use cases: air taxi operations, cargo and logistics, and medical emergency response.
Users can toggle data layers to explore siting opportunities based on their own priorities, such as accessibility considerations, existing last-mile infrastructure, multimodal connectivity, or environmental constraints. Map preview coming soon!
Contact Us
For jurisdictional planning questions, coordination issues, SmartAtlas inquiries (including requests for baseline data layers), or technical toolkit questions, contact Senior Regional Planner Kate McCauley at katelyn.mccauley@sandag.org.