The manufacturers are building hybrids, people are buying them, and the profits are being fed back into production and design. More hybrids are coming out, they are getting cheaper, and bigger ones for those who like big cars are coming down the pike.

Battery technology and production are benefiting, and will be a factor in making pure electric and plug-in hybrids more feasible.

The free market works.

As for rail systems, IMO those who believe that the government should build roads have only themselves to thank for the current condition of our passenger rail system. But that's water under the bridge.

Cargo rail transport is doing just fine, thank you.

People like cars. They go where you want to go, when you want to go there, and you can take what and who you want, including the dog on the back seat. You have privacy, you can listen to your own music, and your space is your own. A transportation concept that works with this, rather than against it, is going to make money. Hybrid and other advanced cars will do this.

Socialists (not referring to you here) are endlessly frustated with the reluctance of the average person to be squished into the mold of the collective ideal, living in planned communities, using mass transit, and relying on a central authority for transport just like they should for so many other things.

As for telecommuting? That's me!