Taxi Driver

I seem to have developed supernatural powers. Any "broken" taxi meter can be fixed if I simply open the cab door and step out. While I feel like an idiot arguing over what typically amounts to about 75 cents, I'm also unwilling to be robbed on a regular basis.

This leads me to something else: public transportation. For a small city, the traffic and air pollution here are unbelievably bad. That makes me think that if a foreign development NGO, with any concern about climate change really wanted to help, they should simply build and maintain a subsidized trolley system here. 3 lines would cover most of the city more than adequately, and would probably reduce a huge number of people driving, especially given the current fuel crisis in Nepal.

There are some obvious obstacles, namely, electricity is frequently in and out, and there is massive corruption in all public works construction. The solution to the electricity problem doesn't seem insurmountable, and the obvious solution to the public works problem is to simply import everything, including labor if need be. This would annoy a lot of people, and the Maoists seem disinclined to allow foriegn intrusions on the market like that (they've even been making noises about forcing the Gorkhas to return to Nepal, ending several hundred years of successful mercenary services, although the Gorkhas have vowed to fight that iniative, a threat that one might tempted to read literally, given their history). The solution here seems simple: offer the transport system as a Hobson's Choice . If Nepal doesn't want a pre-fab system, someone else will take it.

As far as costs go, I'll have to look into what it would run a company to create, but given the size of foreign developmental aid programs in most developed countres (the U.S. is excluded) it doesn't seem like it would prohibitively expensive.