Create a Comprehensive Business Plan that Demonstrates the Safety Benefits and Return on Investment from Investing in the Uncrewed Aircraft System Program.
Comprehensive Study Documents Best Practices on Uncrewed Aircraft Systems from Idaho and Other States.
Date Posted
03/29/2024
Idaho, United States
Idaho,
United States
Identifier
2024-L01218
UAS Technology, Airspace Design, Privacy and Safety in Idaho
Summary Information
Uncrewed Aircraft System(s) (UAS) technology has the potential to bring about a variety of benefits including expediting project delivery, improving roadway safety, reducing congestion, and facilitating environmental sustainability. This study examined existing guidelines in Idaho and in other states on the implementation of UAS, with the goal of identifying strategies to promote and regulate their use in Idaho from the surface to 400 feet above ground level. In this study, best practices from leading state DOT UAS programs were summarized and a set of evidence-based recommendations were developed for building a stronger UAS program.
- Create a comprehensive business plan that demonstrates the safety benefits and return on investment (ROI) from investing in the UAS program. The business plan should detail quantitative comparisons between UAS and traditional methods, focusing on cost savings, ROI, and safety benefits, to educate stakeholders and the public. It should also show that hiring 3-5 full-time employees will lead to cost efficiencies.
- Establish a UAS Task Force advisory group. This kind of effort would facilitate and advance the UAS Program by focusing on, for example, technological, use case, legal, data management, and policy aspects of the program, with a mechanism to receive regular public input.
- Organize and fund public engagement and outreach activities. Activities such as demonstrations of hardware and software could highlight the safety, uses, advantages, and future opportunities for UAS program and advanced air mobility. Regular invitations for public events and discussions could reduce suspicion and friction from opponents to aviation developments.
- Have a specific scope of work in place for the UAS Program Coordinator position. This particular position and its requirements should be separate from those of a crewed-aircraft pilot, as this position would call for significantly more expertise and time in airspace policy planning, federal aviation awareness, data management and legal aspects of advanced air mobility.
- Coordinate annual conferences or workshops for UAS users. These networking and training activities would bring about several benefits such as interjurisdictional and interagency collaboration, best practice sharing and private sector input, to name a few.
- Collaborate with local governments to identify further UAS application opportunities. This kind of collaboration would most likely produce mutually beneficial practices to integrate UAS into transportation plans, land use planning, emergency management, environmental preservation, and airport land management.
UAS Technology, Airspace Design, Privacy and Safety in Idaho
UAS Technology, Airspace Design, Privacy and Safety in Idaho
Source Publication Date
06/01/2023
Publisher
Prepared by Idaho Policy and Consulting LLC for Idaho Transportation Department
Taxonomy (ARC-IT)
Maintenance and Construction »
Infrastructure Monitoring (MC09)
