[ericmoritz]

I was having a discussion with someone about how much of our transportation issues would be solved if we were content traveling at <20mph. Electric vehicles could be much simpler because they didn't have to move at highway speeds. Travel would be significantly safer as well.

Think about it, how much of your everyday needs around within 5 miles of you? Unless you live in a rural area, I'd suspect 100% of your needs are within 5 miles of you. At that speed, you could get to anywhere in ~15 minutes inside of that 5 mile radius.

[ktsmith]

Lots of American cities are very spread out so you don't have to be in a rural area in order to have to travel more than five miles to satisfy your every day needs.

[king_jester]

This is the major problem with transit in a lot of places. Development spread outward to cheaply priced land, creating large distances between residential areas and commercial areas. Major cities that didn't have the land or prices to allow outward development instead developed upward (and download, with buildings and transit systems below ground). The end result is that a lot of places are simply not sustainable without tremendous investment in their transit systems and city planning. As gas more and more expensive, a lot of people will end up having to abandon these areas because it will simply be too expensive to live there.

[khafra]

Work: 20 miles northeast. Girlfriend: 40 miles south. Not rural.

I do try to cruise under the speeds where aerodynamic drag outweighs other factors, when I can. I wish the aftermarket for aerodynamic improvements to passenger vehicles were much larger (as in, existed at all--cosmetic facades that slightly increase downforce are about all you can buy).