Individual vs communal shuttle pods?
So in my story, a spaceship populated with about 250 people has reached its destination, an Earth-like planet. It's uninhabited, and consider the weather is just typical, sunny-day with a slight breeze.
Would it be safer to use a communal pod, which contain up to 25 people each, or a single-person pod? Considering the facts that there might be malfunctions, or that some freak wind might blow them off course. They're heading for a general area, so it doesn't have to be exact on where they land.
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I would go with commmunal pods, just out of financial and space efficiency. Consider the difference between 250 individual cars, and ten buses. Most city buses have 55 seats; you could have just 5 communal pods.
If there is a chance of being blown off course, it is better to have 50 people with you than to be stuck in the wilderness alone, and a larger communal pod could have much more powerful equipment for communications, navigation, engines, backup systems, and even life support, shelter and an emergency medical facility than I'd expect to find in individual pods.
You can also use the larger communal pods more efficiently for transporting supplies and equipment, food and such. And leave a few on the ground as tough and secure armored emergency shelters; since no telling what the weather might do or how dangerous the native life (including bacterial, viral, or fungal) may turn out to be.
You get some economies of scale using the larger pods, and they can be safer as well; just as a 747 is safer than a small two-seater airplane, especially in bad weather.
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