[PTTG]

We all know the most basic form of alternate history is one where dirigibles are a mainstream form of transportation in the modern day. It seems like you can hardly go back in time and flip off a dinosaur without coming back to atomic-powered lighter-than-air ships that explode at the drop of a hat.

In this somewhat tongue-in-cheek thread, what are some possible justifications for worlds that happen to use some form of lighter-than-air mass transportation, both ordinary and extraordinary?

Here's one:

Eisenhower ends up not participating in the US Army's Transcontinental Motor Convoy; as a result, his later experiences in Germany don't inspire the same interest in a national highway system, and so it is never proposed on a national level.

The NHS is largely funded by fuel taxes, so lacking that gasoline prices are somewhat lower. This isn't all that well appreciated by citizens, however, as shipping expenses are substantially higher.

Railways handle shipping to major cities, but for minor outposts all the way up to fairly large towns that just happen to be off the railroad network, air freight is the standard. Traveling long distance by car is an adventure!