I disagree that we should hold off on new mass transit systems. Funny how people say that new rail systems are just for the middle class, and therefore not important, or, in the case of, say, the New Mexico Roadrunner, just for the working class and therefore not important. I see a no win standard here. But be that as it may, I'll agree that light rail is expensive and slow to implement and, given all of the low density suburbs with which our country is now infested, of limited utility.

What we *do* need is a PCC-type open standard to build new, small, lightweight streetcars. Make them with genuine lightweight components, chosen to be easy to maintain or fix rather than ultra heavy duty, small and agile rather than high capacity, and on dedicated rights of way built with light duty track using European techniques that are far cheaper per mile to build and maintain. No massive slabs of cement miles long. Instead, supported rails running along grassy strips. The *real* kicker? Specify that the federal government will pay 75% of the cost of rolling stock, but only if it meets the new standard, which must include a vehicle cost of under $150,000. AND that this new standard will include cheaper means of disabled access compliance or even allow a mixed fleet with some vehicles allowed to violate existing, very expensive ADA and emergency requirements. Requirements, I might add, that no vintage cars, including the very active S.F. and Kenosha fleets could ever meet.

Yes, I'm well aware of what standard prices of such vehicles are these days. Speaking as a Portlander who was photographing the undercarriage of a trolley two days ago and reviewing costs at the NARP board meeting a month ago, I have done plenty of research on this. And I'm telling you that for the hundreds of smaller, less dense cities that really need mass transit, right now, this would change the game completely and is not only technologically feasible, it can be accessible to the disabled, weather-tolerant, and cheap to run. We could even do what they did in the old days that people seem to have utterly forgotten: run freight in the middle of the night on those rights of way for pennies on the dollar to the cost of trucking.

Such a system, done right, would reshape our country quickly and for less money than most people would think possible. And, again, done to an open standard, they could be built by any company with the gumption, creating many, many jobs fast. If the auto companies want to get into the game, smaller, lighter vehicles could be built using those truck and Hummer assembly lines that are said to be underused right about now. Ideally a Liberty Ship-style program would be done to juice the system.

All of this is doable and it could be done fast with existing technology at low cost. But only if, for the first time in half a century, the people in the White House demonstrate the will to get it done.