Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I am trying to configure out a really dumbed down and intuitive PC for my grandmother. She recently had a stroke and while she is under my care I would like to repurpose a laptop for her to surf and email her children. Anyone have any experience with what input devices and UI's are really understandable for the over 80 crowd?"
Honestly, the geography of the US is pretty different from Japan and most of the EU and that's probably a major reason for poorer mass transit options. Where it works is in cities like Chicago or New York just like in Europe. But in cities like LA which aren't really cities so much as urban sprawl, it doesn't seem to work as well.
When I do need a car, there are well established options like Zip car and I get to drive a different car every time if I want (they recently added the new 3-series and 5-series to the fleet too Woohoo!).