So there is "news" about Autonomous cars becoming disruptive in the hotel industry. I guess it is because of the cute name..."driverless hotel room." I've had this discussion with friends since...well i first heard about autonomous cars.
Because way back at the beginning of discussing autonomous driving I developed the scenario (and this was at least 8 years ago) that Autonomous vehicles will be a major "Disruption" in the Hotel AND travel industries. But also increase tourism as far as dining and spectator events...and even visiting grandma, national parks etc. This is something my imagination created on its own... it isn't all my thoughts but at least fleshes out the disruptive nature of autonomous vehicles... As a side bar before I even start: "Shower and Shugar" Stations will pop-up to serve as real BATHrooms to provide "proper facilities" for travellers. Sorta like are available to truckers at truck stops...
First my thoughts on airlines.
Two people living in My town, Palm Bay Florida, want to attend homecoming at My University, Auburn AL. This is one of the most Average of scenarios.
MONEYowning an ICE vehicle)
IF YOU FLY
Tickets $346 (2 tickets Orlando to Atlanta)
Car Parking $27
Car Rental $94 ( That is taking the deal with Routes, not a highly regarded business, next best was Alamo for $113).
gas $40 (total WAG)
Minimum TOTAL $530
TIME: For travel
1.5 hours to get to the off site parking
.5 hours to travel from off-site to airport
1.5 hours through screening and boarding (cutting it close)
.5 hours to get the rental car (we all know I am being very forgiving of some of these estimates.)
2.0 hours to get to the hotel in Auburn.
.5 hours to get checked in.
6.5 hours from door to hotel door.
Scenario II
Get in the car at midnight on Friday, after you shower, and go to sleep. Wake up to super charge 5 hrs later, and go back to sleep.
TIME (from google maps, at speed limits...mentioning this because setting Autonomous to over the speed limit will probably negate the time spent at the super charger)
"
7 h 48 min (491 miles)
via I-75 N.
.
MONEY ( Guessing high to make my point) Multiplied x2 for round trip.
$30 ($15 x2) Tolls
$80 ($40 x2)supercharger (and home charger)
$110 Total for Autonomous drive.
So when you subtract autonomous from conventional Airline transportation:
$530
-$110
$420 actual transportation savings
TIME
7.45 hrs
-6.5 hrs
0.95 hrs (x2 = 1.90 hrs)
SO BY TRAVELING AUTONOMOUSLY for 2 MORE HOURS YOU WOULD SAVE $420. An almost 80% reduction in cost.
Now like that wasn't enough...
The first thing you have to figure out is when are flights available. Very rarely do you get to dovetail the times in with your reason for flying. Often it is get there the night before and leave the day after. That is an additional 2 days of your life you do not get back, outside of just the traveling time. And it is an additional expense of at least 1 hotel night and eating out, So throw another $100 out the window IF you are staying at a Holiday Inn, and it is not Homecoming Week end (Like in my scenario), Otherwise peel a few more $20 bill off that bank roll.
So the convenience, time savings, and additional monetary expenses are much larger than just time and money spent in the basic dynamic of travelling.
There is also the whole negativity associated with security checks and boarding, and who you sit with on the plane...and if you get a whole can of cranberry juice to go with your peanuts. Eat it quick she's coming around for the trash.
Or you can fall asleep in your autonomous electric vehicle (You did get the upgrade for the "sleeper chair"? Me I'll have a cyber so a full-sized mattress will be my driver's seat...come to think of it I know we aren't there yet, but who is in the Tesla Meter High Club? It's going to be a big club once autonomous driving is for real.
When you get to your vacation or conference destination... First you can time your arrival to EXACTLY when you want to get there...no more having to decide based on flight offerings and costs. Second you can do the planning to arrive fresh and ready to start the fun, or work.
Now about how you feel when you get back home.
So many people need to take a day off before going back to work just so they feel back to normal... Autonomous driving in many cases will remove the need to recover from traveling through airport terminals.
(Another sidebar. This one is a new parameter and not one I gave much thought to 8 years ago. There will be less chance of catching a communicable disease. And also less chance of your plan being disrupted by an outside force like the current BS.)
Now as to vacationing. Tourism will become HUGE. Sure domestic airlines will see a vast reduction in ticket sales. And the Hotel industry will be impacted, but more people will be prone to take more vacations. And many of them will be further from home due to the elasticity of autonomous travel. Think about... here is one of my "Vacations."
Get in the car about midnight in Central Florida, go to Auburn for the day game against Georgia. Party. get my drink on with either the girl or my buddies that were also sleeping in the Cyber, No reason to not drink...I ain't driving. After the game hang out for a couple of hours. get back in the Cyber. Set it for Tuscaloosa so I can watch the Crimson Tide play Florida. Get a good nap on the way there. Party with The Tide till I am sleepy. Go back and sleep in the AC of the Cyber. Set it to drive me to Nashville so on Sunday I can watch the Titans play the Colts for the early game. Hop back in the cyber and set it for Hotlanta so I can catch the Sunday night football game with the Falcons... Close down Atlanta. Sleep in the cyber on the way to the Monday night Football game Carolina hosting NYG. Tailgate. And then set it to drive me and my buddies back to the house. Five games in five days. Sure it really would be a physical struggle, but not a logistical problem. And extremely inexpensive No Hotel rooms, and light on fuel costs. Practically the only additional expense would be the tickets. And I am great at working scalpers. I don't need to see the whole game. I am there for the spectacle.
Now imagine of I was a baseball fan in the Spring, when college and all the levels of the pros are active.... See, the autonomous vehicle is going to increase the amount of vacationing being done...heck I could even visit distant relatives and old college roommates for next to nothing.... See all the buildings and history that are not possible due to financial and driving constraints.
Besides driving and air travel the worst part of travelling is the hotel room itself, and the huge expense for little value other than a cool bed and a hot shower (if you are lucky). Autonomous driving reduces the driving fatigue by as much as you want to plan for it, and minimize the time wasted sleeping and driving by half. All while reducing the expenses by 80% (WAG).
Because way back at the beginning of discussing autonomous driving I developed the scenario (and this was at least 8 years ago) that Autonomous vehicles will be a major "Disruption" in the Hotel AND travel industries. But also increase tourism as far as dining and spectator events...and even visiting grandma, national parks etc. This is something my imagination created on its own... it isn't all my thoughts but at least fleshes out the disruptive nature of autonomous vehicles... As a side bar before I even start: "Shower and Shugar" Stations will pop-up to serve as real BATHrooms to provide "proper facilities" for travellers. Sorta like are available to truckers at truck stops...
First my thoughts on airlines.
Two people living in My town, Palm Bay Florida, want to attend homecoming at My University, Auburn AL. This is one of the most Average of scenarios.
MONEYowning an ICE vehicle)
IF YOU FLY
Tickets $346 (2 tickets Orlando to Atlanta)
Car Parking $27
Car Rental $94 ( That is taking the deal with Routes, not a highly regarded business, next best was Alamo for $113).
gas $40 (total WAG)
Minimum TOTAL $530
TIME: For travel
1.5 hours to get to the off site parking
.5 hours to travel from off-site to airport
1.5 hours through screening and boarding (cutting it close)
.5 hours to get the rental car (we all know I am being very forgiving of some of these estimates.)
2.0 hours to get to the hotel in Auburn.
.5 hours to get checked in.
6.5 hours from door to hotel door.
Scenario II
Get in the car at midnight on Friday, after you shower, and go to sleep. Wake up to super charge 5 hrs later, and go back to sleep.
TIME (from google maps, at speed limits...mentioning this because setting Autonomous to over the speed limit will probably negate the time spent at the super charger)
"
7 h 48 min (491 miles)
via I-75 N.
.
MONEY ( Guessing high to make my point) Multiplied x2 for round trip.
$30 ($15 x2) Tolls
$80 ($40 x2)supercharger (and home charger)
$110 Total for Autonomous drive.
So when you subtract autonomous from conventional Airline transportation:
$530
-$110
$420 actual transportation savings
TIME
7.45 hrs
-6.5 hrs
0.95 hrs (x2 = 1.90 hrs)
SO BY TRAVELING AUTONOMOUSLY for 2 MORE HOURS YOU WOULD SAVE $420. An almost 80% reduction in cost.
Now like that wasn't enough...
The first thing you have to figure out is when are flights available. Very rarely do you get to dovetail the times in with your reason for flying. Often it is get there the night before and leave the day after. That is an additional 2 days of your life you do not get back, outside of just the traveling time. And it is an additional expense of at least 1 hotel night and eating out, So throw another $100 out the window IF you are staying at a Holiday Inn, and it is not Homecoming Week end (Like in my scenario), Otherwise peel a few more $20 bill off that bank roll.
So the convenience, time savings, and additional monetary expenses are much larger than just time and money spent in the basic dynamic of travelling.
There is also the whole negativity associated with security checks and boarding, and who you sit with on the plane...and if you get a whole can of cranberry juice to go with your peanuts. Eat it quick she's coming around for the trash.
Or you can fall asleep in your autonomous electric vehicle (You did get the upgrade for the "sleeper chair"? Me I'll have a cyber so a full-sized mattress will be my driver's seat...come to think of it I know we aren't there yet, but who is in the Tesla Meter High Club? It's going to be a big club once autonomous driving is for real.
When you get to your vacation or conference destination... First you can time your arrival to EXACTLY when you want to get there...no more having to decide based on flight offerings and costs. Second you can do the planning to arrive fresh and ready to start the fun, or work.
Now about how you feel when you get back home.
So many people need to take a day off before going back to work just so they feel back to normal... Autonomous driving in many cases will remove the need to recover from traveling through airport terminals.
(Another sidebar. This one is a new parameter and not one I gave much thought to 8 years ago. There will be less chance of catching a communicable disease. And also less chance of your plan being disrupted by an outside force like the current BS.)
Now as to vacationing. Tourism will become HUGE. Sure domestic airlines will see a vast reduction in ticket sales. And the Hotel industry will be impacted, but more people will be prone to take more vacations. And many of them will be further from home due to the elasticity of autonomous travel. Think about... here is one of my "Vacations."
Get in the car about midnight in Central Florida, go to Auburn for the day game against Georgia. Party. get my drink on with either the girl or my buddies that were also sleeping in the Cyber, No reason to not drink...I ain't driving. After the game hang out for a couple of hours. get back in the Cyber. Set it for Tuscaloosa so I can watch the Crimson Tide play Florida. Get a good nap on the way there. Party with The Tide till I am sleepy. Go back and sleep in the AC of the Cyber. Set it to drive me to Nashville so on Sunday I can watch the Titans play the Colts for the early game. Hop back in the cyber and set it for Hotlanta so I can catch the Sunday night football game with the Falcons... Close down Atlanta. Sleep in the cyber on the way to the Monday night Football game Carolina hosting NYG. Tailgate. And then set it to drive me and my buddies back to the house. Five games in five days. Sure it really would be a physical struggle, but not a logistical problem. And extremely inexpensive No Hotel rooms, and light on fuel costs. Practically the only additional expense would be the tickets. And I am great at working scalpers. I don't need to see the whole game. I am there for the spectacle.
Now imagine of I was a baseball fan in the Spring, when college and all the levels of the pros are active.... See, the autonomous vehicle is going to increase the amount of vacationing being done...heck I could even visit distant relatives and old college roommates for next to nothing.... See all the buildings and history that are not possible due to financial and driving constraints.
Besides driving and air travel the worst part of travelling is the hotel room itself, and the huge expense for little value other than a cool bed and a hot shower (if you are lucky). Autonomous driving reduces the driving fatigue by as much as you want to plan for it, and minimize the time wasted sleeping and driving by half. All while reducing the expenses by 80% (WAG).