Throughout the nineteenth century, railroads played a pivotal role in the development of the United States. And their introduction changed transportation forever.
Now imagine a railroad-like way to travel — in the sky. That’s the vision a startup called Swyft Cities has for the future of transportation.
This company is creating an aerial transportation system, similar to how skyrails and ski lifts transport passengers off the ground and through the air to their destination. This system, which Swyft calls “Whoosh,” may soon be used in everything from real-estate developments to major cities, enabling people to quickly and comfortably fly over traffic and pedestrians to get where they need to go.
For reference, this is what’s known as a “moonshot” — an idea that is highly risky due to things like cost and time, but has the potential to become a world-changing innovation. Just like railroads changed the way we travel, Swyft Cities’ system could, too.
This is an idea that spun out from Google. And now Swyft Cities is spearheading its creation. But why create such a radically-new way to travel?
For one reason, traffic is getting worse. For another, most mass transit options aren’t ideal. They’re inconvenient, unsafe, or simply unavailable.
Then there’s the continuous growth of urban areas. By 2050, two-and-a-half billion people will live in cities. New solutions are needed so people can easily get to their destination quickly, conveniently, and sustainably.
As mentioned, this could be a major shift in transportation. And there’s more than a trillion dollars of market potential with this idea.
On a smaller scale, Swyft’s Whoosh systems could be used for things like tourist attractions or sprawling neighborhoods. Public and government applications could include colleges, airports, hospitals, and cities.
Swyft has demonstrated its technology with two prototypes. And its first pilot project is underway in New Zealand. The company will soon break ground at a large real-estate development.
Swyft’s hardware partner has patents on the first cable system that’s switchable at speed. And Swyft’s own software will soon be patent-protected.
Meanwhile, Swyft is in discussions with Dallas, Texas for the first U.S. pilot system, as well as more than a dozen projects worldwide. Its total customer pipeline is valued at more than $150 million.