  Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is an emerging transportation system that will
enable the safe and efficient low altitude operations and applications of
unmanned aircraft (e.g., passenger transportation and cargo delivery) in the
national airspace. This system is currently under active research and
development by NASA in collaboration with FAA, other federal partner agencies,
industry, and academia to develop its infrastructure, information architecture,
software functions, concepts of operation, operations management tools and
other functional components. Existing studies have, however, not thoroughly
analyzed the net positive impact of AAM on society and environment to justify
investments in its infrastructure and implementation. In this work, we fill
this gap by evaluating the non-monetary social impact of AAM in the state of
Ohio for passengers, patients, farmers, logistics companies and their customers
and bridge inspection entities, as well as its environmental impact, by
conducting a thorough data-driven quantitative cost-benefit analysis of AAM
from the perspective of the state government. To this end, the most relevant
and significant benefit and cost factors are identified, monetized, and
estimated. Existing ground transportation for the movement of passengers and
goods within and across urban areas is considered as the base case. The
findings demonstrate that AAM's benefits are large and varied, far outweighing
its costs. Insights on these benefits can help gain community acceptance of
AAM, which is critical for successful implementation of AAM. The findings
support decision-making for policymakers and provide justification for
investments in AAM infrastructure by the government and private sector.
