Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is an emerging transportation system that will enable the safe and efficient low altitude operations and applications of unmanned aircraft (e.g., passenger transportation and cargo delivery) in the national airspace. This system is currently under active research and development by NASA in collaboration with FAA, other federal partner agencies, industry, and academia to develop its infrastructure, information architecture, software functions, concepts of operation, operations management tools and other functional components. Existing studies have, however, not thoroughly analyzed the net positive impact of AAM on society and environment to justify investments in its infrastructure and implementation. In this work, we fill this gap by evaluating the non-monetary social impact of AAM in the state of Ohio for passengers, patients, farmers, logistics companies and their customers and bridge inspection entities, as well as its environmental impact, by conducting a thorough data-driven quantitative cost-benefit analysis of AAM from the perspective of the state government. To this end, the most relevant and significant benefit and cost factors are identified, monetized, and estimated. Existing ground transportation for the movement of passengers and goods within and across urban areas is considered as the base case. The findings demonstrate that AAM's benefits are large and varied, far outweighing its costs. Insights on these benefits can help gain community acceptance of AAM, which is critical for successful implementation of AAM. The findings support decision-making for policymakers and provide justification for investments in AAM infrastructure by the government and private sector.

翻译：先进空中交通（AAM）是一种新兴运输系统，将实现国家空域中无人机（例如载客运输与货物配送）的安全高效低空运行与应用。该系统目前由美国国家航空航天局（NASA）与联邦航空管理局（FAA）、其他联邦合作机构、工业界及学术界共同积极研发，以构建其基础设施、信息架构、软件功能、运行概念、运行管理工具及其他功能组件。然而，现有研究尚未深入分析AAM对社会与环境的净正面影响，以论证其基础设施与实施投入的合理性。本研究通过开展基于数据的AAM成本效益定量分析（从州政府视角出发），评估该技术对俄亥俄州乘客、患者、农民、物流企业及其客户、桥梁检测实体的非货币化社会影响及环境影响，从而填补上述研究空白。为此，我们识别、货币化并估算了最相关且最显著的效益与成本因素，并将城市内外现有客货地面交通作为基准案例。研究结果表明，AAM的效益规模大、类型多样，远超其成本。揭示这些效益有助于提升社区对AAM的接受度，这对AAM的成功实施至关重要。本研究结论为政策制定者提供决策支持，并为政府及私营部门投资AAM基础设施提供了合理性依据。