Over the past decade many former railroad beds have been turned into trails for hikers, bicycle riders and snowmobile drivers. It is time to make plans to re-fit these "trails" with light rail cars to move people and goods in a "relocalized" community.

One source of useful information is to examine the history of Interurban transit, which was quite extensive throughout the United States from the late 1800s to the end of the 1930s. Most of these Interurban systems were put out of business by General Motors, which replaced these very useful transportation systems with GM diesel buses. The demise of America's Interurban railroads is a classic case of bad driving out good. It is time to go back to what was good.

With fewer dollars being available for highway improvement projects and not to mention the escalating cost of asphalt, cities and towns will need to re-introduce a method of transportation that is energy-efficient, available to all and does not consume a huge right-of-way.