The trick, though, is to define "region" and have an idea when and where people might go. Economically, it wouldn't work to go quite "anywhere" at quite "any time," at least not without substantial price adjustment for more obscure places and times. Here another New Mexico element, very sophisticated data analysis, enters the picture. Before joining DayJet five years ago, Jim Herriott and Bruce Sawhill spent five years associated with the Santa Fe Institute, the non-linear dynamics research outfit that is more the center of many networks instead of a contained place. Using "agent-based modeling," Herriott and Sawhill simulated the decisions made by the 500,000 people each day who go on business trips of 100 miles or more in DayJet's initial region of seven southeastern states.
So far, so good. DayJet has been flying since September 2007.
For the Santa Fe Institute, see www.santafe.edu. For the story, see www.theatlantic.com.
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