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Who benefits from Urban Air Mobility? Spatial and income equity in multi-phased vertiport deployment

Shahriar Iqbal Zame (Technical University of Munich), Tao Guo (Technical University of Munich), Hao Wu (Central South University, Technical University of Munich), Constantinos Antoniou (Technical University of Munich)

Journal of Urban Mobility
License: CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract: Phased deployment of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vertiport produces distributional effects that static, end-state assessments miss. How accessibility gains evolve across construction phases and population groups has not been studied systematically. This study investigates three questions for the phased vertiport siting problem: how equity trajectories change from phase to phase, whether spatial equity at the zonal level and income-based equity at the individual level move in tandem, and whether conventional interventions such as fare reductions and construction subsidies produce their intended distributional effects. Applying a two-dimensional equity framework that pairs the Gini coefficient with the Concentration Index, we analyze a multi-phased vertiport deployment in the Munich Metropolitan Area under three policy scenarios, complemented by sensitivity analyses on network scale and subsidy depth. Three principal findings emerge. First, spatial and income-based equity are decoupled: the scenario with broadest spatial coverage exhibits pro-rich income distributions across all construction phases. Second, income-based equity trajectories converge toward pro-rich configurations by the final phase across all scenarios despite different starting points. Third, fare reductions intensify income inequality by increasing trip frequency among already-served upper-middle income households rather than expanding the beneficiary pool, while construction subsidies reduce inequality by redirecting vertiport sites toward middle-income populations. Sensitivity analyses show network expansion can approach income-neutrality with diminishing returns, and subsidy effectiveness varies between spatial and income dimensions. These findings demonstrate that equity-conscious UAM planning requires multi-dimensional assessment and supply-side interventions rather than demand-side pricing policy.

Published on 14 Oct. 2026