Cars/trucks, diesel-electric or electrified freight trains, diesel ships, jet planes, electrical wires, and pipelines, (and tracked vehicles, helicopters, nucle

Cars/trucks, diesel-electric or electrified freight trains, diesel ships, jet planes, electrical wires, and pipelines, (and tracked vehicles, helicopters, nuclear subs, rockets, cable railways, etc. in niche roles), are practical means of transportation given our particular available resources, history of infrastructure investment, etc., but they are familiar and boring to make a speculative fiction story about. Coming up with an alternative set of constraints where other kinds of transportation (zeppelins, space elevators, pneumatic tubes, conveyor belts, ornithopters, futuristic sailboats, teleporters, ...) are economically/physically viable is fun for authors and readers.