{"id":221186,"date":"2026-03-15T21:10:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T21:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/221186\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T21:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T21:10:22","slug":"ready-for-take-off-experimental-air-taxi-spotted-in-skies-over-oakland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/221186\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready for take-off: experimental air-taxi spotted in skies over Oakland"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

A flying taxi took a spin over San Francisco Thursday \u2014 and the Bay Area\u2019s tech crowd was there to watch.<\/p>\n

The small electric aircraft from Joby Aviation flew across San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate Bridge during a demonstration flight that drew reporters and industry guests<\/a> to the St. Francis Yacht Club.<\/p>\n

The flight is part of the company\u2019s push to launch electric air taxis \u2014 small vertical takeoff planes designed to carry passengers on short trips<\/a> of roughly 10 to 50 miles.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The small electric aircraft flew across San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate Bridge. Joby<\/p>\n

\"Joby<\/p>\n

Joby Aviation is based in Santa Cruz. Joby<\/p>\n

\"Joby\u2019s<\/p>\n

Joby\u2019s all-electric four-passenger aircraft is being tested in California and planning to launch services, aiming for the 2028 Olympics. Joby<\/p>\n

Joby\u2019s aircraft seats four passengers and uses six propellers. The company says rides could cost $100 to $170<\/a>, roughly the price of an Uber Black, for trips like San Francisco to Napa.<\/p>\n

Santa Cruz\u2013based Joby Aviation is one of several companies racing to bring eVTOL aircraft<\/a> \u2014 short for electric vertical takeoff and landing \u2014 to market. Rival Archer Aviation, based in San Jose, is developing similar aircraft.<\/p>\n

Both companies are currently going through certification testing with federal regulators before launching commercial passenger service.<\/p>\n

Joby was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to participate in a federal pilot program aimed at speeding up eVTOL deployment.<\/p>\n

Commercial flights could begin this year in several states, including New York, Texas and Florida, with California expected to follow.<\/p>\n

\"Joby<\/p>\n

Joby Aviation CEO JoeBen Bevirt stands for a portrait on Thursday, Mar. 12, 2026. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n

\"Event<\/p>\n

Event attendees watch a Joby Aviation vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft fly over San Francisco on Thursday, Mar. 12, 2026. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Joby Aviation vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft flies over San Francisco on Thursday, Mar. 12, 2026. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n

During Thursday\u2019s demo, the aircraft took off from Oakland and flew across the bay at about 100 mph, circling near the Golden Gate Bridge before returning.<\/p>\n

The company says the aircraft is quieter than a helicopter and designed to fly about 1,000 feet above cities, allowing passengers to bypass traffic for quick regional trips.<\/p>\n

If the technology takes off, companies say air taxis could become a new commuting option in the Bay Area \u2014 especially for travelers willing to pay for a faster ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A flying taxi took a spin over San Francisco Thursday \u2014 and the Bay Area\u2019s tech crowd was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[101126,11917,100522,57996,143,145,144,101,1914,101127],"class_list":["post-221186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-electric-aircraft","tag-golden-gate-bridge","tag-joby-aviation","tag-noah-berger","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-bay","tag-vertical-takeoff-and-landing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}