The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently selected 10 participants to serve in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program, which will partner private sector members with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to safely explore the integration of drone operations.
“Data gathered from these pilot projects will form the basis of a new regulatory framework to safely integrate drones into our national airspace,” Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao said. “The enthusiastic response to our request for applications demonstrated the many innovative technological and operational solutions already on the horizon.”
The 10 participants were selected from 149 proposals. They will work with the FAA to refine operational concepts through agreements that will establish data-sharing requirements and responsibilities, specify that no federal funds will be spent on the program and describe specific concepts of operations programs will undertake.
Program participants will collect and study drone data for two and a half years.
The selected participants are the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the City of San Diego, the City of Reno, the Kansas Department of Transportation, Lee County Mosquito Control District, Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Dakota Department of Transportation, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and Virginia Tech’s Center for Innovative Technology.