Using Rules to Schedule Departures Across Multiple Vertiports for Higher Traffic Flow

What is it about?

This paper explores how Urban Air Mobility (UAM) networks can operate more efficiently when electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft share limited takeoff and landing pads across multiple vertiports. Traditional “first-come, first-served” scheduling often creates bottlenecks and wasted time, so the study develops a detailed simulation framework that incorporates vertiport layouts, aircraft performance, charging needs, and passenger handling. Using the BlueSky platform to model a notional Los Angeles network, the paper tests a rule-based departure sequencing strategy that organizes flights by specific rules rather than simple arrival order. Results show that this approach consistently improves throughput: in a three-vertiport setup, total completed flights increased by 11% and idle time dropped by 23%, while in a four-vertiport setup, idle time fell by 30%. With faster charging systems, throughput gains rose to 14%. Overall, the study demonstrates that rule-based scheduling, combined with efficient charging, can significantly reduce congestion, shorten delays, and improve reliability in future UAM operations.

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Photo by Beckett P on Unsplash

Photo by Beckett P on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is both timely and unique because UAM is moving rapidly from concept to near-term reality, with federal agencies, city planners, and industry leaders actively preparing for commercial operations by the late 2020s. While prior research has explored vertiport configurations, demand-capacity balancing, and energy management, most approaches still rely on first-come, first-served scheduling, which limits throughput and creates bottlenecks as networks scale beyond two vertiports. What sets this work apart is its focus on rule-based departure sequencing within a high-fidelity, closed-network simulation that captures the full operational complexity of UAM, including vertiport architecture, charging protocols, and passenger handling. By demonstrating consistent improvements in throughput and idle time reduction across multi-vertiport networks, the study offers a scalable strategy that directly addresses one of the most pressing challenges facing early eVTOL operations: how to manage congestion cost-effectively without requiring major infrastructure expansion. This makes the proposed framework not only a novel contribution to simulation-based UAM research but also a practical step toward ensuring efficient, reliable, and safe integration of eVTOL services into urban transportation systems.

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