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Chandler set to kick off drone delivery pilot program
Under the program, a drone will deliver medical supplies to an assisted living facility, and people with the project hope this will reduce traffic on surface streets, and make deliveries more sustainable. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas reports.
CHANDLER, Ariz. - Drones are becoming more popular in the delivery business, and soon, the City of Chandler will test a program that aims to deliver medical supplies to patients.
"This is the first in the Valley to deliver medical supplies," said Ryan Kaup, Economic Development Project Manager for the City of Chandler.
The drone will launch from Omnicare, and travel 1.2 miles to an assisted living facility known as Sunrise of Chandler. Kaup said during the pilot program --the drone will make a 5-minute trip carrying pills to the assisted living facility in west chandler.
"It's piloted, and there are cameras on the drone as well, but there is no video that's recorded," said Kaup. "There are a few benefits. One, it will take traffic off the roads, and there's the sustainability aspect of it, so all of these drones will be electric."
This pilot program was recently approved by Chandler City Council, and includes agreements with both the Maricopa Association of Governments and Airspace Link.
"We're excited to try this out to see if this saves them time, and is quicker," said Kaup. "We're planning on doing some more communication as we get closer to the initial test dates, expected to be this summer. So, we will be putting out some further press releases, as well as some notices to the neighborhood and businesses in the area before it happens."
Kaup says the next step is to get funding for the project. He says this is no cost to the city, and funding will come from MAG.
"Both of the partners involved, the pharmaceutical distributor and assisted living facility, have signed on as something they want to do and try, and they think this will be more efficient for them and they're excited to see how the pilot plays out," said Kaup.
If all goes as planned, the program could be implemented in other parts of the East Valley city.