Everything is connected to everything else...

Absence of typhoons this year has created a shortage of water in Taiwan, where semiconductors are made.

Manufacturing semiconductors requires require a vast supply of water, so many semiconductor production lines are shut down.

New cars require many semiconductors, so shortage of semiconductors has led to the shutdown of new car production lines.

(If interested, you can go here to see from Car and Driver Magazine the long list of car models most affected by the chip shortage.)

Car rental companies have disposed of much of their car inventory during travel-restricted 2020-2021, and now are unable to buy enough new cars to restock inventory to previous levels.

Maine's summer 2021 tourism season - with many businesses newly reopened - is coming up fast.

The vast pent-up demand for travel about to be unleashed this summer, fed by new direct airline flights to Maine, has the potential to land large numbers of tourists at airports in Portland, Bangor and elsewhere.

Considering summer 2021 is going to be compressed into just a few short weeks, many of these visitors will be arriving the same day as other visitors.

Since Maine is largely lacking in inter-town transportation options, these visitors would normally just rent a car at the airport and drive off to Boothbay Harbor or Bar Harbor or Moosehead Lake or wherever.

But what if there aren't enough rental cars at the airports to go around?

Is there a doable solution to this problem?

Can it be done by Memorial Day?

Stay tuned for updates.