It's not a bird or a plane, it's actually a drone. Options for receiving your packages in College Station could soon be soaring to new heights with Amazon drones.
Economic Development Manager, Brian Piscacek explains the planning process to get them in the area. Although there are a few more steps needed, the possibility is growing even closer.
"You know they’re looking at a specific radius, in terms of where they want to deliver their products," Piscacek said. "They had to go through this process to ensure the proper zoning was required. Now that they have done that, I know there are some additional approvals that they need to go through at the federal level, through FFA to actually fly the drones in College Station."
According to Texas A&M freshman Ashley Irons, receiving packages on campus isn't exactly easy or private. She thinks the delivery of packages from drones would eliminate many of the obstacles students face when trying to get their deliveries.
"I don’t have P.O. Box on campus, so I will either have to use my friend’s P.O. box to get packages, which is a little bit frustrating because they can open my things, look at it," said Irons. "Sometimes you just want to get your own thing. Or I have to order it to the HUB, which is about 2 miles off campus. In which case, I don’t have a car on campus, so I have to find a ride there or take the bus, and getting a package can be an all-day ordeal”.
From the time it was announced to the latest updates on the project, Piscacek has seen overall positive feedback from the community and has enjoyed the experience of making this futuristic delivery a soon-to-be reality.
"I think the feedback has been really good," said Piscacek. "We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to be one of the first cities where Amazon is rolling out this new technology. They have been a great community partner so far, we’re really excited about what’s to come”.
Finding a place to publicly drive around and park on campus are also challenges that many face. Irons said she relates to the struggle of stepping out from daily student responsibilities to get a delivery.
“Most places on campus, cars cannot access during the school day," said Irons. "But if I were able to tell a drone to meet me outside of Commons Lobby, I could go get it and go back to my study session, without having to be inconvenienced by going to the closest accessible parking lot and being on the phone with my ship driver 'like I’m here, I’m in red.' Instead, the drone can just meet me at that table, right there. I think it would be a lot more convenient and stop the interruption that we have when we go to pick up things that are delivered to us because the public cannot get on campus easily".
New information will be delivered by Amazon themselves on August 13 from 9 a.m. to noon at Century Square.
There will be a Meet n Greet with Amazon Officials, along with a drone on display.