> when you don't have to worry about sharing the road with lumbering machines weighting a ton, safety isn't a problem. The best model I can think of for how th

> when you don't have to worry about sharing the road with lumbering machines weighting a ton, safety isn't a problem. The best model I can think of for how these might be used is the use of scooters in Asia. In Taiwan, for example, there are bicycle/scooter lanes on major arterials and special signage and traffic rules for scooters. Major intersections have 2-stage turn boxes exclusively for use by scooters and bikes, and there are scooter/bike boxes at the front of most traffic lights. A scooter is the fastest way to get around when there's traffic. The downside is that scooters are still very dangerous, since they still sometimes have to interact with large vehicles. A vehicle even shorter would be even worse. The article focuses a lot on the energy efficiency of these velomobiles, but I would argue that the time people waste in traffic is a much more pressing problem. Reforming our infrastructure to support smaller vehicles and to give preference to public transit is the solution, and it has the additional advantage of making all kinds of more efficient transportation possible.