CaptD wrote, "Smaller electric vehicles, mopeds and or mobility scooters will become THE way to travel to work in the future, unless you are young and healthy in which case you will probably ride a bicycle and or take a shower before reporting to work!"
Ah, a person after my own heart. Exactly! We haven't even seen the e-vehicles of tomorrow yet (closer to e-bikes than e-cars), except as experiments and prototypes. Once it get's started the shift will be dramatic when as Chris says, "...the U.S. and Europe are forced to park their cars for good." (And the scrap, recycled value climbs)
You'll enjoy this pic (if it comes through). Ugly as sin but doesn't have to be:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=267834289972722&set=p.267834289972722&type=1&theaterSmaller, slower, but still personal transport, will keep us moving with low carbon, if we physically compact our lives a bit. In a resource constrained future there just won't be the capital and resource inputs for huge subway, trolley or highway projects, but we don't have to back up all the way to the 19th century to hang onto the best of civilization.
We do need to make the decisions of what we must keep, and what we can do without, in an low exploitation, sustainable civilization. The vehicle in the pic is about a 3rd the weight of a horse, less carbon intensive than the horse or a seat on the subway or bus particularly when fed by on-site sun or wind, and whole lot faster and more reliable. It's not as comfortable as a car, but fun, and will still move and protect our butts from the elements.
