Vehicle Speeds
Foot: Moving on foot comes in two speeds over a long distance, walking and hustling. Walking is exactly that and averages about 5 kilometers per hour. Walkers and other foot traffic can travel in a relatively straight line from one point to the next in most urban and flat rural areas if they want. In the mountains or over rough terrain, the movement rate is between half and a quarter of normal. Hustling is faster but gets tiring. Double the overland speed but add in Damage Tests due to Fatigue (p. 172, CRB).
Bicycle: As odd as it sounds, traveling by bicycle is not that uncommon in downtown areas or in the barrens of larger cities. Riders can average about 25 kilometers per hour but are usually limited to streets and flat terrain. Bikes can be used off-road but only manage a quarter of the speed. Riding a bicycle for long periods or in uneven or rough terrain can cause Fatigue (p. 172, CRB).
Ground craft: Up until the invention of GridGuide, travel in a ground craft could be a crapshoot. Accidents, construction, variable speed limits, and traffic congestion all made getting from one spot to another take a lot longer than one would expect. With GridGuide, which is in place in most major cities and on most major highways, travel averages 80 kilometers per hour in urban environments and 120 kilometers per hour in rural or cross-country routes. Since ground craft require roads, most of the time these travel rates can be applied using real-world mapping tools (Google Maps, Mapquest, TriPlanner, etc.) and calculating driving distances.
Watercraft: From rafts to super carriers there’s an almost endless variety of craft designed to move on water. Man-powered craft such as kayaks and canoes average about 3 kph in still water but only make a quarter of that when paddling against a strong current—or quadruple that when paddling with the same current. Small powerboats cruise at around 25 kph, larger powerboats cruise around 65 kph, and speedboats can cruise around 130 kph (cigarette boats go even faster, hitting cruising speeds of 200 kph). Yachts cruise at around 60 kph, and larger ships like cruise ships travel at 35 kph. The most important factor to consider when figuring out water travel times is the body of water. Rivers are rarely straight, which means travel distances will always be longer than the linear distance between points, and everything but the smallest lakes have some sort of current—the gamemaster will have to decide how those help or hinder boating runners.
Rotorcraft: Helicopters and tilt-wing aircraft usually have the advantage of flying as straight as the crow. These vehicles average around 220 kph cruising over open terrain. In urban airspace rotorcraft speed drops to about 140 kph, but the distance between locations is linear. In rural airspace tilt-wing craft can get up more speed and can increase their overland speed to 300 kph. The limiting factor for most rotorcraft is fuel.
Aircraft: Travel by air is broken down into three very broad categories, with a fourth category that only exists for purposes of determine long-distance travel times on a more commercial scale. The three broad categories are prop planes, small jets, and large jets. The fourth category includes semi-ballistics and suborbitals, but no one really flies those—they just guide their fall. Almost all planes, with the exception of VTOL craft, need an airfield or long stretch of flat ground to take off or land. Once aloft, they travel point to point in a linear path. Prop planes average around 250 kph for flight time between airstrips. Small jets average about 1,000 kph over long distances. Most are capable of much faster speeds but burn way too many liters per kilometer of expensive jet fuel to be practical for long-distance travel. Large jets, such as commercial airliners, average around 800 kph over long distances.