AT THE SMU EVENT, the mood is similarly funereal. At the evening's end, Kunstler and Simmons, the Saudi oil expert, take the stage for a question-and-answer period. Kunstler doesn't toss many lifelines.

"Aren't there any solutions?" everyone asks him. "What can we do?" people want to know.

Kunstler replies with assorted variations of "nothing." "There are no panaceas," he says.

Most people seem willing to accept this assessment, perplexed as it might leave them, but one nondescript guy just refuses to take curtness for an answer.

"But what exactly can be done to reform the train system?" the man insists. "How do we convince transit authorities that they're in the mobility business?"

"I really can't answer that question," Kunstler tells him.

When the event is finally over, the oilmen circle Simmons, asking him if the administration appreciates the seriousness of the situation. (He doesn't know.) Clumps of others are busy trying to get face time with Kunstler when the train man breaks in, determined to nail him down. "What exactly can be done to fix the train system?" he says again.

After 20 minutes of being harangued about transit authorities and setting smarter train schedules, Kunstler makes a break for it. Jeffrey Brown is waiting near the exit, and Kunstler walks toward him briskly, taking frequent looks over his shoulder.

"Who the fuck is that guy?!" Kunstler asks, nearly in a frenzy of frustration. "He kept twanging on me, on and on, about the train system. Everybody always wants a remedy. I don't think there is a remedy! I always get these people twanging on me for solutions. Hey, that's not my job. I'm here to tell people that the problem is real!"

Brown chuckles. Kunstler almost smiles as the two men walk out of the auditorium into the emptying parking lot. He's a magnet for wonks like the train guy, but after a 14-hour day listening to his own voice, Kunstler needs a break, and some food would be nice, too. There's a late-night Japanese restaurant next to Kunstler's hotel. "C'mon, Jim," says Brown. "I'll drive."