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Underexplained Lists

Transport, Ranked

1:28 PM EDT on July 13, 2023

LMS streamlined Princess Coronation Class 4-6-2 No 6220 Coronation at Euston with the Coronation Scot. 1937, United Kingdom. (Photo by Rail Photo/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)
Rail Photo/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images

This all started because two of us have had nightmare airport experiences in recent weeks, which is a nice reminder that flying is the least civilized way to travel we have. (It needn't be that way, but it is.) But what are some good ways to get from one place to another?

We should be honest up front that we never really established what, precisely, we were ranking. Is it comfort? Sustainability? Coolness? Fully unclear, and inconsistent even within individual voters' lists. (Originally we were ranking "vehicles" but there was some argument over whether a horse is a vehicle.) Regardless, a representative sample of Defector staffers ranked methods of transport, and the rankings were averaged to achieve this comprehensive and definitive list.

  1. Train
  2. Boat
  3. Trolley/Tram/Streetcar
  4. Bus
  5. Bicycle
  6. Horse
  7. Mine cart
  8. Hovercraft
  9. Airplane
  10. Car
  11. Spaceship
  12. Skateboard
  13. Helicopter
  14. Motorcycle
  15. Falling out of an aerial tramway
  16. Submersible
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