This fall, residents of Christianburg, Virginia may get to experience drone delivery courtesy of the Wing drone. The idea is to enhance delivery services while also reducing carbon emissions.

Wing Virginia Delivery Trial

It was in April when the Federal Aviation Administration approved Wing as a certified air carrier, which means that it can deliver commercial goods to customers who may be miles away. Now, Wing, an independent Alphabet business, announced that it will be conducting a drone delivery service trial this fall as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program.

Starting next month, residents of Christianburg, Virginia could receive drone deliveries from Walgreens, FedEx, and local store Sugar Magnolia. The items are packed in customized boxes so that they can be safely carried by the drone, and deliveries are made within minutes. This makes Walgreens the first pharmacy to offer drone delivery in the United States.

While this is the Wing’s first test in the United States, the Wing has completed 80,000 flights in the Australia and Finland trials.

Drone Delivery

Project Wing is an autonomous delivery service that aims to increase consumers’ access to goods while reducing traffic congestion and easing carbon emissions, especially since transportation is responsible for 27 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

“Whether it’s the parent stuck at home with two sick kids and no dinner, the farmer out in the field with a broken tractor and no tools, or emergency service workers that need medical supplies at the scene of a crisis, current methods of road transportation are not always fast enough to solve the problem at hand,” Wing stated.

Similarly, Amazon and Uber are also working on drone deliveries, and in fact, Amazon is boasting deliveries that come within minutes instead of the next day. With these advancements in delivery technology, deliveries could soon be more efficient, bypassing obstacles such as traffic, trees, buildings, and powerlines, and making even emergency deliveries possible.

As for Wing’s Virginia trial, interested residents in the area can sign up to join the Early Flyer waitlist.

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