Automobile Transportation relience in the US?

Question

How does the reliance on personal automobile transportation set many people in the U.S. apart from citizens of the rest of the world?

Answer 1

Many people in other places cannot afford cars, or the gas or maintenance they require. This transportation allows Americans to live further from work, to get jobs outside of their immediate community (which means less farming), more leisure travel, etc.

Answer 2

Perhaps because much of USA population is still rural. It's a good 60 mile round trip for me for groceries and supplies, medical care & the like -- no buses, no taxi, train, no nothing.

I doubt euros in general have a good idea of the comparative size of the nation. As mentioned above, auto fuel has been traditionally cheaper here because it's so less taxed, and USA is an oil producing & refining nation - that's why the nation made such economic strides, why employment is higher, unemployment lower.

Answer 3

Well, the answerer above me is only partly true, I think. In europe we can afford cars too, but we don't have to rely so much on them. It's simply that the US was build around the car. Just look at LA. It's almost inconceivable to not have a car there. In europe public transportation is much more dense, so we need cars not that much. I haven't been behind the steering wheel for months now because I can go anywhere by bus or train or simply by walking. (And I don't like driving too much either.)