> Average travel speeds for people haven't done so well - people in London 100 years ago travelled at an average of 12 mph, mostly on trains and cars. Today, tr

> Average travel speeds for people haven't done so well - people in London 100 years ago travelled at an average of 12 mph, mostly on trains and cars. Today, travel in London still averages 12 mph. People still spend 1-2 hours most days travelling. Most people don't want to travel more than 30 minutes one-way on a day-to-day basis, and that has been true for most of history: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchetti%27s_constant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchetti%27s_constant * PDF: http://www.cesaremarchetti.org/archive/electronic/basic_instincts.pdf http://www.cesaremarchetti.org/archive/electronic/basic_inst... * https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-08-29/the-commuting-principle-that-shaped-urban-history https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-08-29/the-commu... People used to walk 30 minutes to work, then perhaps cycle or take the train or tram, and post-WW2 drive for 30 minutes one-way. This increased the distance because which each new technology you could (theoretically) go faster, but the time stay the same (on average).