Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The latest drone news
While the College Station program continues with the tech giant looking to expand delivery service, CNBC reports that not everyone in College Station is happy about it. Specifically, the drones are too darn noisy.
“It sounds like a giant hive of bees,” College Station resident John Case told CNBC. “You know it’s coming because it’s pretty loud.”
In March, Amazon revealed to readers how the College Station facility operates, showing how employees retrieve packages and load them into the drones, which weigh about 80 pounds and travel through the air at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. It even showed a gif of a drone depositing a delivery outside someone’s home.
In 2023, KXAN in Austin reported that the program has led to thousands of deliveries, and that College Station customers could start getting prescription medications delivered to their homes by drone. In May, Amazon sent a proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expand Prime Air by service size—43.7 square miles to 174 square miles—and by the number of deliveries made daily—200 to 469.
But in July, College Station Mayor John Nichols asked the FAA in a letter to postpone Prime Air’s expansion because of the noise.
“Due to the level of concern from residents, the City would ask to delay the increase in service levels relating to the number of deliveries, as well as the expanded operation days and hours, until additional noise mitigation efforts are implemented by Amazon Prime Air,” wrote Nichols.
CNBC reported that College Station officials found that a single drone’s noise registered at between 47 and 61 decibels, comparable to a dishwasher running. Residents told CNBC a drone delivery was akin to a fly buzzing around you for far too long. Amazon said it’s listening to residents.
“We appreciate the community of College Station and take local feedback into account wherever possible when making operational decisions for Prime Air,” Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson told CNBC in a statement. “We’re proud of the thousands of deliveries we’ve made and the hundreds of customers we deliver to.”
Amazon is hoping by the end of 2024 to replace its current drones with a new style called the MK30. Amazon told Nichols the MK30 drones would be about 40 percent quieter than the current craft, meaning the sounds of buzzing bees and frustrating flies could soon be a thing of the past.
But will it matter in College Station anyway? According to reports, Amazon does not intend to stay in the city after its facility lease runs out in September 2025.
