It’s already been established that driverless cars will reimagine the design of terrestrial vehicles; without the need for a driver or cockpit, that space could be better used for more leg-room, coffee machines or conference tables for business travelers. Terrestrial travel also has the immediate advantage over air of solid Wi-Fi service, effectively freeing travelers from the uncertainty of spotty or non-existent connectivity while in flightPicosecond. Despite the added comfort and convenience that will come from using driverless cars, I’d still need to take a flight if I were really in a hurry, right? Well, maybe. With the current status quo in place, short-haul flights edge driving by a click. Driving with current speed limits from San Francisco to downtown LA typically takes a little more than six hours; compare that to my journey with United, which door-to-door was five hours, and there’s a clear winner. However, that’s with the current status quo. Many suggest the speed limits on highways could rise with the improved safety expected to come with autonomous cars; and while no one is willing to put an exact figure on this, the higher travel speeds of driverless cars could end up balancing out the time saved by traveling via short-haul flight. The Tesloop Model S The Tesloop Model S The golden triangle: faster, cheaper and better In general, terrestrial short-haul may be as fast or slightly slower than airlines, today. Nevertheless, it’s likely to be much more consistent in both price and time to the destination. It’s hard to believe that the experience wouldn’t be more comfortable door to door and it will, likely, be much more affordable, especially for business group travel. Examining price, a direct, round-trip flight from SFO to LAX can start at $150 with taxes. On average, I’m paying more than $300 because I’m often traveling with very little notice. If I’d like a flexible ticket, that price often doubles. According to some estimates, the price of cabs sans driver could come down as much as three-quarters. If the journey between LA and SF with one passenger may be twice the cost of the best price, and, with more passengers , autonomous travel would become the cheaper option. Moreover, the group could co-work or enjoy entertainment as they move to their destination. It’s hard to believe that we’d choose to deal with the hassle and rigidity of airline contracts versus hitting a button on our smartphone and traveling door to door. The best experience will win Millennials are ceremoniously biased to value experiences over things and wanting more control of their surroundings; these trends will drive (pun intended) the future of short-haul transport. What’s possible when you could travel in a mobile living room, massage parlor or movie theater is astonishing. There’s a lot at stake. According to travel expert Jim Loomis, “a large number of flights in and out of most of the major hub cities are to and from cities less than 400 miles away.” This includes 30-40 percent of arriving flights from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. A massive chunk of travel could shift from air to land. Moreover, with the lower price point for groups and added convenience, families may afford to travel more. In other words, the pie will probably grow. To be fair, some in the airline industry are realizing that they are in trouble and are improving customer service and considering new approaches to making flying more customizable. It wouldn’t be fair to forget innovations like Airbus’ A3 lab, for example, which has debuted a concept for a modular airplane. Equally, United deserves an honorable mention; however Server Hosting, they consistently find innovative ways of abusing their passengers and nickel-and-diming families. There’s absolutely no better advertising for more options than looking at their twitter mentions. While the ifs around the future of autonomous cars are big, airline companies like United would still be wise to take note and prepare themselves for the turbulence that may be shaking up their industry in the coming years.