Strategic integration of vertiport planning in multimodal transportation for urban air mobility: A case study in Beijing, China.

In pursuit of strategic sustainable development goals, this study seeks to analyze the spatial placement of vertiports for urban air mobility, positioning them as integral components within the multimodal transportation system. We propose an iterative weighted k -means clustering method that incorporates the value of travel time of different transportation modes to identify potential vertiport locations. A multi-objective optimization model that maximizes total air taxi ridership and minimizes total facility costs and travel distances to vertiports is developed considering the constraints of the distance from vertiports to existing mobility hubs. A case study is conducted using the data of Beijing city, incorporating the modes of taxis and metro. We found that 19 vertiports can guarantee a robust performance of urban air mobility service. Users of urban air mobility can benefit from substantial travel time savings of 80% (48 min on average). This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the optimal setting of urban air mobility facilities from the perspective of network synchronization, offering useful insights into policy decision-making for sustainable infrastructure planning. • Integrated spatial placement of UAM vertiports in multimodal transportation systems. • Proposed iterative weighted k -means clustering methods incorporating value of time. • Developed a multi-objective optimization model to identify optimal vertiport locations. • Found 19 vertiports can guarantee robust performance of UAM service in Beijing. • Found air taxi users can benefit from 80% of travel time savings (about 48 minutes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]