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Flying taxis in the US? Uber says it wants to test them in 2 years

Flying taxis in the US? Uber says it wants to test them in 2 years
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Uber Technologies Inc. says George-Jetson style commuting may happen in the next five years as it is currently developing a concept for flying taxis in the U.S.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on Tuesday morning talked about the company's plan to create on-demand, autonomous flying aircraft designed to shuttle people around.

Models of a fleet of "VTOLs" (Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft) will be exhibited at the Uber Elevate Summit today in Los Angeles. 

Uber Elevate taxis will be requested via mobile phones, just as rides through the Uber transportaiton service are now, Khosrowshahi said in an interview on television today.

Flying taxes are still in the design phase, but the company aims to test them by 2020 and projects operation of them in five years.

Uber Elevate has listed the barriers it is considering during the design phase, including safety, battery life, vehicle efficiency, air traffic control and more.

Uber's air taxi concept was previously highlighted at the annual CES tech show.