Tata Motors and its $2500 car

[niky]

Well, the effectiveness of non-integrated mass transport in third-world countries like India and the Philippines, where mass transport is ineffective at peak hours and suffers from over-capacity at other times, is questionable.

C'mon, how economical is it to run hundreds of buses down EDSA at off-peak hours with just a dozen passengers each, idling for a total of 30-45 minutes at stops waiting for passengers? (from experience).

It's a fun calculation... given that a bus gets about 1.5-2 km/l in the city, and consumes a couple of liters of diesel for every hour or so that it spends idling, waiting for passengers, I figure that I sometimes burn more in terms of diesel when commuting on EDSA (at off-peak hours) than I do when driving at the same time.

30 hp doesn't sound too bad. As long as you're in traffic, it doesn't matter much. And safety? With that little power, you're not going to be driving balls out, anyway.

While I prefer my 2 liter car, that's because I can afford the gas. Other people might find this thing pretty practical, especially if they live in areas where public transport is limited to tricycles (which cost an arm and a leg per kilometer, anyway) or jeeps (whose route is limited, and who spend a lot of time idling their diesel away, too).

New York's bus system works because it's not a capitalist free-for-all like it is in developing countries. But in order to maintain constant service and schedules, they're still forced to run the buses at unprofitable (and diesel-wasting) times.

There needs to be an adequate mix of private and public transport for maximum flexibility. And it's better if the private transport is smaller and more fuel efficient.

[pitbullz]