Kurtopia Transit Authority launches KUBER
community transport by water, land and air
Autonomous air taxis join on-demand and shuttle services across Kurtopia’s major regions, in what is believed to be an in-world first.
The Kurtopia Transit Authority today announced the rollout of KUBER, a new community transport system connecting Kurtopia’s major regions by water, land and air. Residents and visitors can now travel between key destinations on shuttle boats, buses and air taxis, all under one name and one simple way to ride.
Every KUBER vehicle works in one of two ways. In On Demand mode, a passenger touches the call pad at a dock, bus stop or landing pad, and the nearest available vehicle is sent, with an estimated arrival time. In Shuttle mode, vehicles run continuously along their routes, so there is always a service on the way.
KUBER Water
Shuttle boats connect Kurtopia City and Seashell Island, giving travellers a scenic and relaxed way to cross between regions. Call pads at the docks let anyone summon a boat on demand. If a boat is already waiting at the dock, no call is needed, and empty boats reposition quickly to answer a call so waiting times stay short. Boats can also be called from neighbouring regions.
KUBER Land
KUBER buses follow set routes to key destinations such as Kurtopia Mall, with friendly announcements on departure and arrival. Passengers can wait at a stop and call a bus with a touch, or ride the regular shuttle service. Like the boats, an empty bus heads quickly to wherever it has been called.
KUBER Air
The centrepiece of the rollout is the KUBER Air Taxi, which is believed to be the first autonomous air taxi service in-world. There is no pilot and nothing to fly. A passenger sits in the taxi, chooses a landing pad from the menu, and the taxi takes off, cruises and lands by itself.
What sets the system apart:
- Return to base: every taxi has a home pad. When it sits idle, or when another taxi needs its space, it flies home on its own.
- Call pads: touch any KUBER landing pad and the nearest available taxi is dispatched, with an arrival time. If none is available in the region, the call is passed to neighbouring regions.
- Basic collision avoidance: taxis climb and route around mapped obstacles and keep clear of terrain on the way.
- Landing clearance: if a pad is occupied, an arriving taxi holds and waits for it to clear before landing.
Behind the scenes
KUBER is powered by a cross-region repeater network. A repeater in each region passes calls to its neighbours, so a taxi in one region can answer a call made in another. Regions are grouped so that the network matches the way Kurtopia is actually connected. Routes, landing pads and no-fly areas are held in centralised routing data storage, so a change made once reaches every vehicle automatically, with no need to update vehicles one by one. The entire system is custom built for Kurtopia, with more than 4,000 lines of code.
“KUBER is about making Kurtopia easier and more enjoyable to get around, whether you are crossing the water, heading for the mall or taking to the sky. We are especially proud of the air taxi service, which flies itself and looks after its own landings and returns.”
– Kurt LoveLord, Kurtopia Transit Authority