As autonomous vehicles, high-speed rail, and biometric systems converge, the future promises a world where will have more power and less stress than ever before. But technology alone won’t save us. Until we remember that every passenger is a person with a story—a person going to a funeral, a birth, a job, or a home—the journey will always feel too long.

Before the 19th century, were rare. Most people died within 20 miles of where they were born. To be a passenger was to be an adventurer or an exile. The first great shift came with the steam locomotive. Suddenly, passengers could move faster than a horse. The experience was terrifying; early passengers feared that at 30 mph, they wouldn’t be able to breathe.