Pennsylvania could be one step closer to the future.
A state lawmaker wants to make room for flying cars on Pennsylvania roads and in its skies.
Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Lackawanna, is backing the bipartisan bill. The Senate Transportation Committee minority chair says the state needs rules before these futuristic vehicles hit the road.
The Jetsons are coming to the Keystone State?
The bill, nicknamed the Jetsons Act, would create rules for “roadable aircraft.”
Think of a vehicle that can drive to the airport, take off and fly to its destination. Then it can land and drive away.
SB1077 would define a roadable aircraft as a hybrid vehicle that can operate both as a motor vehicle and an aircraft.
When driving, these vehicles would follow Pennsylvania’s motor vehicle rules. When flying, they would have to follow federal aviation rules.
Takeoffs and landings would generally be limited to airports.
The bill would also create rules for registration, licensing, inspections and safety requirements.
Some flying cars could even be exempt from emission inspections.
Flynn says the goal is to keep Pennsylvania from getting left behind as flying-car technology takes off.
“This change would afford Pennsylvania an opportunity to be one of the first states to introduce this revolutionary technology,” Flynn said.
He said the state needs a framework for dealing with licensing, registration and safety inspections before the technology becomes more common.
From cartoon to commute
The Jetsons connection is no accident.
The Hanna-Barbera cartoon followed a futuristic family living in Orbit City in the year 2062. The original version of the show aired from 1962 to 1963. The family famously had a flying car.
More than 60 years after George, Jane, Judy and Elroy first zipped through the skies, flying cars are starting to look less like cartoon magic and more like the real deal.
Companies such as Toyota and Boeing are working on flying vehicles for the public. Tesla’s Elon Musk has even made a bold prediction: “You will get flying cars.”
Flynn says lawmakers need to get ahead of the technology.
“While the implications of these innovations may not yet be fully realized, there is a significant need now for legislation that lays the foundation for integrating roadable aircraft into our commonwealth,” Flynn said.
You will get flying cars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
Other states are already ‘flying’
Pennsylvania would not be the first state to recognize roadable aircraft.
Minnesota and New Hampshire already formally recognize them as a legal vehicle category for use on roadways.
For Pennsylvania, the question is no longer just whether flying cars belong in a cartoon.
Lawmakers are deciding what happens when one shows up on the road, or in the air. LL
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