Bob W wrote:
Unfortunately in 99% of the US today an automobile is a
necessity not
a luxury. That said, do not believe that price does not affect gas
usage.
I find that Europeans and people from the UK who have not
been here generally just don't understand this about the USA.
Things are far apart here, and for the most part we don't
have transportation alternatives. Most of us don't have
access to passenger train service. Bus service is very
limited, and very slow. It's driving in our cars or not
getting there.
but that's because you guys have arranged it that way. You can unarrange it
by building better railroads and improved buses.
And move your cities a bit closer together... That reminds me of an American
gentleman I met in Munich many, many years ago. He had not been in Europe
since WWII. I asked him what he thought were the main differences between
Europe and the US. He said "Well, your cities are so close together".
Bob
No, it's because Europe is tiny compared to North America but has a
similar population. Population density permits your wonderful transit
systems.
Pretty much all of Europe from the Russian Border west could fit in
Ontario alone. Ontario is about 9 million people, but takes north of 24
hours to drive across the long way. We simply don't have the population
density outside of the Northeast Corridor, Southern California, NYC and
the GTA to be able to build european-style mass transit. And those areas
have it already.
Some of our cities are larger than some european countries, and I'm not
talking Monaco. Outside of the few high-density areas, it's not unusual
for people to live several hours drive from town and even further from
an actual city. Last I checked, the King Ranch in Texas itself was
around the size of Lichtenstein.
-Adam
