Futurology

I haven't read this article yet, but I did recently read about electric planes. There are a shockingly large percentage of flights in the US (and probably the world) that are that short. Not a percentage of passengers, but percentage of flights. Lots of islands that don't have a routine ferry service, or small rural communities in places like Alaska that may be separated from the road system by a mountain range.

Those small communities couldn't support constant rail (or ferry) service, so small planes are actually the most economical way to serve them. Even places like Hawaii could use electric planes to good effect.

The first I read about them was for flights to Nantucket Island, which absolutely gets ferry service, but it's also where a lot of rich people have homes, and they are going to fly. https://nantucketcurrent.com/news/cape-air-to-buy-electric-planes