Important Innovations

   Rome's Vertiport at Fiumicino International Airport                                                  Source:  Volocopter 1st Piloted eVTOL Flight in Italy German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle startup Volocopter has just successfully completed its first crewed public test flight in Rome.  The flying taxi launched from a new vertiport at Rome's Fiumicino International Airport.  The test was designed to showcase both the Volocopter flying taxi and Rome's 1st vertiport. It also provided the public with a new perspective on how urban air mobility vehicles might effectively work to ferry passengers between the city of Rome and Fiumicino Airport.  The Airport is planning to go fully commercial and operational with the vertiport, which will be a first for Italy.  Volocopter expects to be ful...

  Rome's Vertiport at Fiumicino International Airport                                                  Source:  Volocopter 1st Piloted eVTOL Flight in Italy German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle startup Volocopter has just successfully completed its first crewed public test flight in Rome.  The flying taxi launched from a new vertiport at Rome's Fiumicino International Airport.  The test was designed to showcase both the Volocopter flying taxi and Rome's 1st vertiport. It also provided the public with a new perspective on how urban air mobility vehicles might effectively work to ferry passengers between the city of Rome and Fiumicino Airport.  The Airport is planning to go fully commercial and operational with the vertiport, which will be a first for Italy.  Volocopter expects to be fully ope...

Metro Travel Tickets for Plastic Bottle Recycling Source:  Rome Metro Expanding Environmental Initiative to Reduce Plastic Dumping in the Eternal City Rome is setting a new, global environmental standard that's very practical and doable.  It's offering free Metro tickets to travelers who recycle plastic bottles by using machines set-up in three Rome Metro train stations.  The system is scalable, expandable and is working. 350,000 Recycled Bottles and Counting The program is so popular that 350,000 bottles have been recycled since July 2019.  Rome's public transit company ATAC is now extending the program across the entire Metro network and letting it run through July 2020. Works by Simplicity To participate commuters need to download an app into their mobile phone.  The app counts the number of bottles the person has put into the recycling machines and then registers the number of Metro tickets they've earned.  As an example, 30 bottles equate...