Data for this article and visualization is sourced from ‘The ABC of Mobility’, a research paper by Rafael Prieto-Curiel (Complexity Science Hub) and Juan P. Ospina (EAFIT University), accessed through ScienceDirect.The authors gathered their modal share data through travel surveys, which focused on the primary mode of transportation a person employs for each weekday trip. Information from 800 cities across 61 countries was collected for this study.
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133 sats \ 1 reply \ @nullcount 9 May
Basically its because North America is owned by "Big Oil".
Some lobbying from oil tycoons in the 1950's led to Zoning rules that still require any new commercial building to include a ridiculous amount of parking spaces.
There are currently 4x parking spaces for every registered automobile in USA.
This zoning regulation had the side effect of creating asphalt oceans everywhere which only makes cities more "unwalkable".
These zoning regulations mean companies have to buy 20-80% more land to supply "adequate" parking. Obviously, this makes prices higher since the company will just pass this "free parking" cost to the customer.
In some ways, owning a car is expensive in USA (registration fees, tax, mandatory insurance premiums, fuel, maintenance, etc.)
But in other ways, NOT having a car is even more expensive. You still pay the "free parking" tax on all your groceries whether you parked your car there or took the bus.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @_b_o_n_e_s_ 9 May
same lobbying and resultant zoning also led to restrictions on commercial activity close to peoples homes, so now you can't walk to the gym or shops. have to drive everywhere.
there's a YT channel Not Just Bikes that has some good posts on this topic
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37 sats \ 1 reply \ @herschel 9 May
because we're too stupid to build nice train systems where we can relax and de-stress, or do some desk work while we travel.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @_b_o_n_e_s_ 9 May
id say less stupidity and more that one particular wealthy industry hijacked a system in their favour
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132 sats \ 2 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 9 May
Because it would take hours to walk?
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11 sats \ 1 reply \ @0xbitcoiner OP 9 May
Some people will drive for an hour just to run on the treadmill for an hour!
😂
Are public transportation systems ineffective or is it a cultural phenomenon?
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64 sats \ 0 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 9 May
LOL the gym part is definitely a mental issue, though I can see why getting up and going to the gym is like a commitment to actually exercise.
At least for me, public transportation would only get me so far, so even if I did that, I'd still end up walking/biking a fair amount. It's not just feasible if you are in any sort of hurry, and have other means of transportation.
I think for many people in North America, public transportation isn't even an option, like any rural areas, and even new suburban areas.
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16 sats \ 0 replies \ @travis 9 May
No public transportation.
A lot of more rural living, outside of cities.
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