In the early days, airports were not adequately equipped to accommodate these flights, from limited airport staff to a lack of runway lighting to restrictions on noise, but with the increasing need to shuttle aircraft to their next route, seats were made available at deeply discounted rates for passengers willing to make the inconvenient trek.

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On Monday, some commuters en route to central Philadelphia were transferred from rail lines to shuttle buses because of the floods.

CNN: Philly suburbs clean up after weekend floods

Take a shuttle bus (about 20 minutes) from the village to access the sledding route, that traverses floodlit tunnels, hairpin turns and screech-to-a-stop straightaways.

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Before its 2003 retirement, the Concorde was long the shuttle of choice for executives eager to spend as little time as possible en route to Europe and unafraid to shell out thousands for a 3.5-hour trans-Atlantic flight.

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