Public Transportation and Smart Growth

Toyota tapped into the market segment that really cares about this. Everybody else is just giving lip service, IMHO. (Honda has been a serious player.)

The bottom line is that the thing that actually moved car companies to improve their fuel economy was the increased CAFE standards. The idea the the invisible hand of the market will drive this is preposterous. Americans are short-term thinkers. Most of them will not look at a vehicle that costs $1500 more even if it will save them $4000 in fuel because it doesn't save them the fuel this week, and they really don't feel any personal responsibility for the impact we have on our environment.