[Zigurd]

I was looking at Google Maps the other day and mistakenly asked for the driving directions from Massachusetts to Taos, New Mexico. Absurd! It would take four days, at least!

But not if your automated car can drive straight through: It would take a day and an half. Four fueling stops. That's enough not to need the loo built-in. With two passengers, the economics are compelling.

Airlines better figure out a way to reduce the overhead around air travel or they are toast.

[mseebach]

It's hardly the overhead around air travel that's going to disuade you from flying. It's still 4-5 hours+overhead vs. 36 hours.

[Zigurd]

It's a three hour drive to Taos from ABQ. Depending on where you start, there are no direct flights to ABQ. Flight schedules often require traveling during the day, and when you can travel at night, a seat that's comfortable enough for a good night's sleep is expensive. I have experienced two hour delays at the car rental desk at ABQ. There are many places where air travel is long and inconvenient.

The US has poor rail connections from airports. Airport security adds uncertainty to making one's flight and making international to internal connections. Airlines have cut their redundancy to the bone, so cancellations and missed connections can turn into an extra day of travel, rather than just a changed flight.

Of course, I hadn't considered stepping out of the terminal at ABQ and into a robo-chauffeured rental that arrives precisely when I'm ready to go. So perhaps the drive at the end of a long day of air travel turns into a restful nap.

Still, being able to travel privately, quietly, directly, and whenever in the day makes it most convenient makes elapsed-time comparisons not always valid: Any distance where you could step into a robo-car in the evening and wake up at your destination would become tough for airlines to claim greater practicality, never mind comfort.

[mseebach]

> Any distance where you could step into a robo-car in the evening and wake up at your destination would become tough for airlines to claim greater practicality, never mind comfort.

Now, that I agree 100% with.

[nordsieck]

I suppose, but if you can do work and/or sleep while you are in transit, it's not that big of a deal.

[mseebach]

You can work/sleep while on the flight. So now it come down to 2 x 2 hours of lost time vs. 36 hours in which you're surely not as productive/relaxed as you would be in your home or office.

Even the top tier of business travelers, who fly first class or business and stay in very good hotels, tend to prefer being home. I don't see how a driver-less car makes "being on the road" a zero-drag experience.