Travel By Airplane And Car- How Are They Similar Essay

Travel by car and airplane might seem rather dissimilar. Cars, for many people, are used on a daily basis, while planes, for most people, are more of a rare means of travel, only used for going long distances and still thought of generally as expensive. Cars are often seen as independent; you (or a companion) are the driver, and can come and go as you please; with planes, however, you are accompanied by strangers, and the only thing you have in common is that you are all going to the same destination. But as dissimilar as they appear on the surface, planes and cars actually have a great deal more in common than meets the eye. They both became popular and viable means of transportation in the 20th century; they are both powered by similar fuel at the same time as other forms of transportation are moving away from combustion; and they are the two most popular forms of transportation in the United States today.
In the centuries leading up to the 20th Century, means of transportation were constantly improving. Innovations like the steam engine contributed greatly to making travel faster and more comfortable. The 19th Century was an era of railroads and steamboats. But at the turn of the 20th Century, two new forms of transportation began to make technological headway. The airplane and the car, born at nearly the same time, began to make headway and gain popular adoption almost simultaneously. By the mid-to-late 20th Century, both were inseparable from American popular culture, and had basically eclipsed rail as a means of travel.
Cars and planes also both run on petroleum-based fuel, meaning that their demand for and consumption of is a driving force for the global economy. When gasoline is high, jet fuel tends to be too, making it harder for everyone to get around by either means of transportation.
They are also the two most popular and preferred means of travel in the United States. With much of the rail infrastructure gone, taking AMTRACK to Disney World might cause you a lot of extra travel through areas that are out of your way just to make the appropriate connections. In contrast, while layovers might be necessary, flying generally gets you to where you want to go quicker than any other form of transit. At the same time, automobiles are romanticized for the freedom they afford you to go where you want, when you want, ensuring you don’t waste time going out of your way. The time-saving factor certainly contributes to the popularity of automobiles and planes over any other form of transportation currently in common use in the United States.
As you can see, while at first the two methods of travel might seem very dissimilar, they actually have a great deal in common. It will be interesting to see, as we progress further into the 21st Century, how these two symbols of the 20th Century continue to evolve.