8 years ago
4
Driverless cars could spell the end for domestic flights
Self-driving cars could disrupt the airline and hotel industries within 20 years as people sleep in their vehicles on the road, according to a senior strategist at Audi. Short-haul travel will be transformed and the hassle of getting to and from airports eliminated, said Sven Schuwirth, vice president of brand strategy and digital business at the German car brand. Business travellers will be able to avoid taking domestic flights to meetings and will sleep and work in their cars en route...
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This is ridiculous. Ever heard of trains or buses? People can sleep on them, too.
In addition to airplanes... trains and buses require you to get to them. When people travel they usually have someone drive them to the airport/bus station/train station because they would rather leave their car at home (instead of a paying 100 bucks a week for parking) or take a taxi. Having a self driving car that can do the 8-12 hour trip (it doesn't eat, it doesn't get tired or distracted) at night while you sleep is a significant change to the way we think about travel. Personally I absolutely hate flying, I hate the busy airport, and the crazy security checks and don't get me started about the seating, at 6'2 I can barely fit into the seats and my knees always take a beating unless I luck out and get exit isle seats. I think, once this option becomes cheap enough there will definitely be a large group of people that would prefer to do it this way.
I agree that a self-driven car takes away the need to abide by a schedule or get to a station, but I think it's not enough to make domestic flights obsolete. People take short flights because, despite all the inconveniences, it cuts down on the time you're stuck in a vehicle for an extended period of time. That's why people still prefer flying to trains, despite trains being much more comfortable and less of a hassle to board.
Sure, people sleeping in self-driven cars wouldn't have to deal with anyone else, but I don't see sleeping on a self-driven car as ever being as comfortable as sleeping at home or in a hotel. The vehicle is still moving and turning, and you'll still get plenty of noise from other vehicles driving around. So ultimately, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people who will still want to save the time and just fly. People just want travel to be over as quickly as possible.
Hey, I like this idea!