3/16: Small car or toy car?

[Undertoad]

The caption:

"Japanese toymaker Takara Co Ltd President Keita Sato takes a seat in the company's electric car "2010" sportcar at an unveiling in Tokyo January 22, 2002. Takara is committed to stay focussing on toys, but it will not be committed to stay focussing on toys for just children, Sato said February 25, 2002. Takara grabbed headlines last month by unveiling the real, toy-like single-seater electric car that reaches speeds of up to 60 km per hour."

Again how different the Japanese culture is from the US culture. What if Mattel came out with a car, for adults, and it looked like this. Regardless of how desirable it was, regardless of how cheap it was, regardless of whether it was a good idea, we would probably mock it and its owners shamelessly, dont you think?

This is the perfect vehicle to head to your local convenience store, and what if it cost under a grand?

Transportation is on my brain these days because, in our area, they are proposing a light rail system (I think it's light rail this week) to connect Philly to Reading, a town about 40 miles away. They feel it will carry 50,000 passengers per day average. The project is believed to cost $1.8B and that's before passenger #1 steps onboard.

$36,000 per passenger just to get it built. I say give all 50,000 these cars and even if they cost $5000, that's an immense savings. And because the cars are small, they'll fit 4-abreast on the two-land highway and solve the traffic problems.

OK, maybe not.