Her parents started zipcar. So lottery, legacy AND connections I'm guessing.

I watched the talk and appreciated the rundown on Zipcar, but without any background information Robin Chase's call for road tolls was a huge stretch.

I see no way in which road tolls are a critical app for mesh networks. Cars tapping into a citywide wireless internet? Sure, but not the other way around.

Many problems spring to mind:
1) People don't want to have their location monitored at all times.
2) You don't need WiMax speeds to handle payment data.
3) Try getting the public, politicians, and automakers to agree on this. Get back to me in 25 years.
4) Who wants wireless internet if it's powered by innefficient gasoline engines?
5) The idea of taking a public good (like roads) and converting it into a private good (by way of road taxes) could have a huge effect on where new roads are built and whether old roads are maintained.

I'll end my rant with an unrelated but valuable article:
My Other Car is a Bright Green City

Tags for this video have been changed from 'global warming, zipcar, oil, cars, ted' to 'global warming, zipcar, oil, cars, ted, market prices, mesh network, wifi' - edited by winkler1