TRANSPORTATION

Transportation in 2199 takes many forms. Ground vehicles remain common and can be found in an endless variety of shapes and functions. They are cheap and reliable, though the inconvenience of land-locked traffic and terrain make them the mode of choice only for those unable to afford better.

Personal air-going vehicles are far more popular, and they have become nearly the norm by 2199. The old vectored aerodyne "AV" hovercars are quickly going out of style since the recent advent and continuing development of gravity engines, but the aerodynes are cheap enough that they will remain common for years to come. Grav cars are quieter, cleaner, much faster, and far more expensive. They are the vehicles of personal luxury in the crowded skyways of modern cities.

For longer trips, winged craft remain common, and grav-driven fixed-wing aircraft break new records every day in speed. Their only real limitation is the frailty of the human body; the artificial gravity generators used to counter interia in orbital ships are far too bulky to use in aircraft.

Watercraft remain in constant use for shipping and entertainment, but they are rarely used for transportation. Indeed, many believe that the prevalence and power of grav-run planes will spell the end of commercial watercraft altogether.