With innovations like driverless cars, commercial space travel and Elon Musk’s much-touted hyperloop lurking just beyond the horizon, travelers are closer than ever to knowing what exactly travel will look like a few decades from now. Allianz Global Assistance‘s yearly Vacation Confidence Index polled over 1,000 travelers to see what folks think of the future of travel—as we reported on here.
With Elon Musk’s recent announcement that he has received verbal government approval to build a hyperloop connecting Washington, DC, to New York (for a 29-minute trip), the hyperloop seems closer than ever. Promising simpler and faster connections throughout the northeast corridor, Musk’s hyperloop concept involves shooting capsules or pods through tubes maintained at a partial vacuum. The pods are held off the bottom of the tube using air (like an air hockey table) or magnets, allowing speeds much higher than conventional wheels can provide.
While this technology sounds amazing, the public is leery. At this time, 39% of consumers stated they were “not interested” in hyperloop technology while only 27% called themselves “very interested.” Fifty-one percent of those uninterested cited safety concerns as the reason for their feelings. Like with self-driving cars, a majority say that they are confident that hyperloop technology will develop safely enough for them to consider using it in the future.
Regardless of how we choose to travel in the coming decades, safety seems to be of the utmost concern to future consumers.
“While transportation technology is poised to change the way Americans travel, safety has emerged as a top concern,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “We expect consumers to be more hesitant in adopting new technologies like the artificial intelligence steering self-driving vehicles, than they might be with existing technologies such as space and supersonic travel that have been developed but are not yet available to the masses.”
Disclaimer: Johnny Jet works as an ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) and receives financial compensation.
For more information about Allianz Global, visit AllianzTravelInsurance.com.
