OK, don’t think I don’t like this idea—-because I do.  It just seems a little dreamy around the edges.

Ithaca, NY is planning to build the first ever “pod-car” public transportation system.  Think elevators that move sideways instead of up and down—-and can take you from your apartment to work instead of just inside one building.

The story just got picked up at cnn.com, which basically means that the writers at cnn.com are sitting around right now laughing at what hippy whack jobs we all are in upstate.

But Ithaca will be doing the laughing if they can pull it off.

Ithaca Mayor Carol Peterson is in support of pod-cars—-which cost around $30 million per mile—as opposed to subways, which cost like $200 million.

Basically, the pod-cars run on a track—-usually elevated a little—and move 2 to 10 people from point A to point B—-with stations every few blocks.  You pick where you want to go on a touch screen, and they don’t need human drivers.  Also, they’re a lot better for the earth then all those people running around in cars.

We’re routing for you, Ithaca!  Call me when you’ve got phasers and a cloaking device too.  Ooo, ooo, and Romulan Ale too.  That always looked tasty.