The Ford subsidiary that operates the train station, Michigan Central, announced today that it’s teaming up with the state’s Department of Transportation (MDOT) to test out the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAM), or drones, to deliver medicine, food, and other small items to nearby residents.

Michigan Central Station opened its doors in 1913 as a soaring 18-story beaux-arts masterpiece and a symbol of Detroit’s once commanding status as Motor City, home to the most innovative companies in the world.

But the auto industry’s slow decline in the ’60s and ’70s as well as the shameful history of racial divide, white flight, inequity, and lack of public investment, left Michigan Central Station — and the city as a whole — a shadow of its former self.

Earlier this year, the company reopened an adjacent building, renamed Newlab, that will serve as a space for automotive startups working on new technologies dedicated to transportation.

Michigan Central has yet to select drone operators for its two-year pilot, but Pluszczynski expects the first use cases to involve prescription drug deliveries or the transportation of medical supplies.

Experts say that drone operations beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of a remote pilot have the potential to open the door to longer flights, new markets, and fewer restrictions on ground personnel.

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