ABSTRACT
Utility cars could be gotten from storage depots — picked up like airport baggage carts with an access card from the front of the line — to be used as long as the people please and billed automatically in accordance with time and mileage used. The car could be electric: charged and serviced while in the storage depots to completely eliminate the time the people each spend on maintenance. Such a system would enhance the freedom of movement the people enjoy from their cars, but add the convenience of a publicly run and maintained utility. Regional transportation centers, along with major shopping malls, civic center complexes, and universities, for example, might provide U-car storage and maintenance depots connected with rapid transit lines. If the most efficient trip combines segments by car and by mass transportation, the transfer point between automobile and the mass mode must be easy.
