Canadian Air Mobility and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) have created the Vancouver-based Canadian Advanced Air Mobility Consortium (CAAM), a multi-stakeholder group that will streamline research, development and commercial operations in the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) sector.

AAM involves the use of zero-emission, electric or hydrogen fuel cells, and vertical takeoff aircraft to provide transportation, emergency and supply chain services for urban and rural communities. Among the many benefits of these aircraft are greater manoeuverability, less need for ground infrastructure, less aircraft noise, reduced fossil fuel consumption, lower costs, shorter travel times and improved safety.

CAAM has more than twenty partners including TransLink, Helijet International, British Columbia Institute of Technology, the University of British Columbia, Bell Textron, Iskwew Air and many of Canada's leading aerospace stakeholders.

Bell's Innovation teams are currently developing and testing the Autonomous Pod Transport (APT), a tail-sitting, eVTOL vehicle capable of moving 70 lbs of goods through autonomous flight. The groundwork for Bell's innovative, new platform was developed in the Bell Textron Canada facility in Mirabel, Quebec.

Bell's innovators in Fort Worth and Mirabel are working to create a new on-demand delivery solution for consumers, warfighters and medical personnel. In collaboration with NASA, APT recently flew a pre-programmed 10-mile circuit path in Fort Worth through complex air space, collecting detect and avoid data while demonstrating its beyond visible line of sight flight capabilities. The innovation team in Mirabel also played a key role in testing the rotating ducts for our Bell Nexus 4EX, which was showcased at CES 2020. With many more milestones to come, our team continues to develop unmanned technology to deliver impactful experiences for our communities, consumers and global businesses.

As an investing member of the CAAM, Bell is thrilled to lend expertise to industry and government partners to develop an integrated AAM ecosystem in Canada. Paving the way for innovation like APT entails close collaboration and an open conversation about the associated infrastructure, regulatory, operational and technology needs. Through these partnerships, Bell moves closer to redefining mobility and bringing advanced vertical lift solutions to urban regions, like Vancouver.

"We've established an outstanding group of strategic members to support the design, integration, and implementation of Advanced Air Mobility in Canada," says JR Hammond, Founder & CEO, Canadian Air Mobility. "We look forward to demonstrating the economic viability, environmental benefits and social inclusivity factors of this technology and making Canada a world leader in AAM. To that end, we welcome additional members who share our vision that AAM provides the path toward a safer, healthier, and more efficient mode of transportation."

Factors making the Greater Vancouver Area a promising AAM market include: a strong aviation infrastructure base; an existing scheduled helicopter service, with heliports in Vancouver and nearby Victoria and Nanaimo; numerous science and transportation research facilities; the Province of British Columbia and City of Vancouver's commitment to the decarbonisation of transportation; and the Pacific Northwest's Cascadia corridor (Vancouver-Seattle-Portland), as one of the busiest routes for the movement of goods and people between Canada and the United States.

Among CAAM's objectives are to create an AAM innovation hub to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grow their technology from a low technology readiness level (TRL) to certification and commercialisation, while also expanding the AAM sector's connections to regulators, manufacturers, aviation operators, infrastructure developers, academia, industry, and governments in Canada and internationally.