I left Logan International Airport at rush hour on a diesel bus headed toward Boston and a seminar on cities at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. After the bus converted to electricity, it descended into a concrete tunnel. A dozen minutes later, it deposited me at the subway, which carried me the rest of the way to Cambridge. It cost $5 and took 45 minutes. I caught up on email, surrounded by hundreds of strangers. I could've chosen to go by taxi. I'm told at rush hour it would've cost me 45 minutes and $40. I could've rented a car, which would have run $60 a day, half that to park. It hardly needs to be said, but Hampton Roads isn't Boston. Or New York. Or Washington. There may be all kinds of reasons to be grateful for that. But there are reasons to worry that it also can't last.
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