Florida residents may soon see the future of transportation taking flight across the Treasure Coast. Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed HB 1093 into law, a legislative move that authorizes the Florida Department of Transportation to potentially cover 100% of the project costs for public vertiports. These vertiports will serve as the essential liftoff and landing platforms for a proposed network of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, commonly known as eVTOLs or air taxis.
With newly authorized state funding, Florida is laying the groundwork for an innovative aerial highway network that will connect the Treasure Coast to South Florida, though plans for a dedicated vertiport at the Vero Beach Regional Airport remain paused for now.
State Senator Gayle Harrell, who supported the legislation, likened the transportation advancement to The Jetsons arriving in Florida. At the state level, the Florida Department of Transportation is actively developing a strategy to connect major metropolitan areas through designated aerial corridors, creating true highways in the sky. While the initial phase of the state’s plan will focus on Central Florida’s I-4 corridor, the subsequent phase aims to connect Port St. Lucie directly to Miami.
The planned route for the Treasure Coast to South Florida aerial highway includes:
- A northern terminus at the Treasure Coast International Airport, which is owned by St. Lucie County.
- A southern terminus at the Miami Executive Airport.
- Additional network stops in major cities including Stuart, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.
- Two potential Martin County vertiports spearheaded by Archer Aviation, located at the county-owned Witham Field in Stuart and the private Apogee Golf Club in Hobe Sound.
Locally, the Vero Beach Regional Airport is not currently included in the planned aerial highway route. However, it stands out as the only airport on the Treasure Coast—and one of just 15 across the entire state—that has publicly expressed intentions to support eVTOL infrastructure.
Previously, the London-based company Skyports Infrastructure had proposed investing up to $10 million to build vertiports and lease land at the Vero Beach facility, aiming for commercial flights by the late 2020s. According to Airport Director Todd Scher, those plans have been temporarily grounded. The airport did not execute the lease due to an immediate need to use the allocated land for overflow car parking. Both Scher and Skyports Infrastructure Director Addison Ferrell confirmed that the project is paused, though the airport has stated that the door remains open for future negotiations.
As the regional infrastructure takes shape, the Florida Department of Transportation projects significant adoption of this futuristic travel method. Annual passenger volume across the state’s aerial highway network is estimated to reach between 220,000 and 1.4 million by 2027, with long-term projections soaring up to 18.7 million passengers by the year 2050.
