Good for humans, but…

The hover taxi promises to reach people to their destinations in time, and are developed to combat the increasing traffic on land. While the people who are affected by the traffic snarls and especially those who can afford the hover taxi will welcome it, there are several issues to be considered in this regard (“Hover-taxi’s resembling small helicopters to revolutionise travel in traffic-choked cities,” Oct.23, Gulf Today).

One is, the hover taxi can be thought of as a short term solution to traffic jams. But the time will come when there will be hover taxi traffic jams. Considering the population explosion and the strain on land, this day isn’t too far away. What actually needs to be done is work with what we have — wise and efficient usage of land itself through greater use of public transport and car pooling. Also, if cities were made bicycle friendly, and bicycle use was encouraged, there would have been less traffic.

Secondly, airplanes kill a lot of birds. Imagine how many more the hover taxi will kill. The smaller birds that fly in the lower atmosphere will be most affected.

The creatures of nature are already under threat from our growing appetite for the natural resources. We encroach on the space that for now they have a higher stake over, we are headed for disaster where bird numbers are concerned.

And therefore I don’t like the idea of hover taxi.

Joyce D
By email