Since humans first took to the skies, we've fantasized about personal, convenient air travel. Who can forget George Jetson's daily driver, a little saucer that folded up into a briefcase? Yet we've crossed into the 21st century and the closest thing we have to flying cars would be a ramped mistake, failed flying car startups or the air taxis or vertical takeoff and landing aircrafts (VTOLs) that are always just a few years away. Turns out a surprising pioneer came up with and promoted an idea for an early VTOL some eighty years ago: the Greyhound bus company.By the 1940s, Greyhound was a popular means of conveyance for Americans, with over 40,000 miles of charted routes. According to a dissertation from 1968 entitled "Era of excellence: The History of Greyhound," Greyhound was actively discourging individuals from traveling on their buses during World War II with ads like "Don't travel unless your trip is essential" and "Serve America now so you can see America later."With such a boon in business, it was clear Greyhound had a lot of means [money] to look towards what the future could look like for travel, and one of their answers is found in this film shared by favorite YouTube channel 16mm Time Machine, "Greyhound Looks Ahead."AdvertisementAdvertisementRead more: These Are The Fastest Jets A Civilian Can OwnTry our local air bus service!16mm Time Machine / YouTubeIn the video, Greyhound demonstrated its "near doorstop service." Named Greyhound Skyways, it was meant to be the future fleet of Greyhound helicopter buses. The "Greyhound that learned to fly," is basically a slightly larger helicopter with an extended cabin that fits a few extra passengers within. The camera tagged along for three different theoretical passenger exchanges using the "local air bus service" which could take anyone from a small town into the city or to the airport via air (and some bus). The helicopter bus could conceivably land in the middle of a divided highway at one of its Highway Transfer Stations to exchange passengers from rural areas heading to the bigger cities. It's as easy as that!After the test, work was in-progress to create an airbus-like helicopter, like the one seen above, which could hold upwards of 12 passengers plus the Greyhound staff needed to run it. The concept looked much like a mix between a small plane and a helicopter.Smithsonian Magazine reported that Greyhound was ready to move forward with the revolutionary sky travel idea in 1945, but was in desperate need of pilots still overseas because of the war. But the plan would never come to fruition, and it was permanently grounded by 1950.The Jetson-like future we could have had16mm Time Machine / YouTubeIt's not clear why the idea didn't see the light. Greyhound introduced what would be considered an air taxi today, and had even demonstrated real test flights from various rural and urban locales. That's more than many of today's vaporware-like eVTOLs can say in 2026. Maybe it was the reality of not finding enough pilots to fly aircraft from various destinations. Maybe there was a lack of its special aircraft to do something so new or the costs for running such an offering were exorbitant. But the project never took off again and the rest of us, possibly even Greyhound, were left wondering what could have been.AdvertisementAdvertisementMaybe a Jetson-like future wouldn't have been as far off if these helicopter buses took flight. In that untold future, perhaps VTOLS and eVTOLs might have been more commonplace than the connectivity-riddled offices on wheels automakers sell today. Instead, we are left to fantasize what that future would be like, in the same way that brought these ideas to life in the first place.Join me weekly as I introduce a new(er), sometimes nostalgic video worth adding to your Watch Later lists. Leave a note in the comments if you find an older or interesting film you'd like to see featured.Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox, and follow us or add us as a preferred search source on Google.Read the original article on Jalopnik.