Despite several proposals to create flying taxis, industry has a ways to go to master how those vehicles will operate without human pilots and make crucial flight decisions on their own, an industry expert told a congressional committee hearing Tuesday.  

The meeting of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology — billed as the first congressional hearing dedicated to the topic of flying cars by Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas — made clear that urban flying vehicles will pose a new set of challenges beyond the autonomous vehicles that are being tested on city streets across the United States.