According to a new Gartner report, cities should prepare for drone deliveries. it says that by 2026 more than one million drones could be making retail deliveries.

Cities need to prepare for drone deliveries Gartner report says

Sarah Wray writes for Cities Today that:

By 2026, more than a million drones could be carrying out retail deliveries, up from 20,000 today, according to new analysis from Gartner.

Drones have played a part in the response to the Coronavirus pandemic and this could speed their longer-term adoption in a wider range of areas. City leaders have a key role to play in adoption and deployment, Pedro Pacheco, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner, told Cities Today.

During the COVID-19 crisis, drones have been used to deliver medication and test samples in remote locations in Ghana, Rwanda, Chile and Scotland. From today, drones will deliver personal protective equipment and supplies to frontline teams in Charlotte, Carolina do Norte, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted a waiver to not-for-profit Novant Health. The initiative is part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation‘s (NCDOT’s) Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program (IPP). Unmanned aerial vehicles have also been used in several cities around the world to monitor compliance with virus-related safety measures as well as to spray disinfectant in Índia and China.

“Autonomous drones offer lower cost per mile and higher speed than vans in last-mile deliveries,” said Pedro Pacheco from Gartner. “When they deliver parcels, their operational costs are at least 70 percent lower than a van delivery service.”

You can read the entire article here.

Photo credit: Cities Today

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