[PeterSmit]

This sounds like a very American answer. Have you been to such an event in any other place, like Europe?

Near me is the largest open air weekend market of the Netherlands. Do you know how everybody gets there? By bike, public transportation, walking, etc. And then some small percentage that arrives by car.

[twblalock]

> This sounds like a very American answer. Have you been to such an event in any other place, like Europe?

Of course, and I've been to the mecca of public transit, Japan!

And guess what -- outside of the super-dense cities, most Japanese people drive cars. I spent some time in a Japanese city about as dense as a California suburb. Two train stations in the entire city. A car or two in every driveway. I've also been to smaller cities in various European countries and it's the same story.

People need to stop pretending that the world looks like Copenhagen or Tokyo. In reality, most of the world is not dense.

[conjecTech]

This is an article explicitly about _urban_ mobility. If you're going to exclude large, dense metropolitan areas, are you even addressing the arguments being made here?

[hahaxdxd123]

It's not dense because the same people opposing pedestrianization also oppose density.

If we let people build a couple Amsterdams or Londons in America, we could just self select and those that want to cycle and walk can do so, and those who want to drive can do so - just in separate places.

[teucris]

Having lived and traveled all over Europe without a car, I can say with confidence that urban environments of a wide range of density are incredibly well-served by public transit, pedestrian routes, and bikes. Cars are necessary in lots of cases, but the vast majority of day-to-day activity that requires a car for me here in the US would have been silly to use a car for in Europe.

[olifante]

Copenhagen is not super-dense, not even very dense. Berlin is even less dense than Copenhagen, yet both cities are very pleasurable for using the bike as your sole means of transportation.

[whimsicalism]

> , most of the world is not dense.

But most people in Japan live in the super-dense cities. So we are literally discussing solutions that work for most people

[UberFly]

Yes, you are right. Bikes make sense only in dense urban areas or if you're relatively close to commerce or work. That's still a big minority of people, but getting onto bikes and out of cars is great where it's a possibility.

[outworlder]

> most Japanese people drive cars

Citation needed.

People who drive cars usually have a need for them. Cargo hauling for example.

> Two train stations in the entire city.

Probably wasn't a large city. I've been to some really small cities that had two train stations. You could walk between stations.

> A car or two in every driveway

For the most part, Japan doesn't have driveways. Even in less populated centers, they might have a parking space, or a garage, but not a driveway. It's a waste of space. Even street parking is limited. Some people may have two cars for whatever reason but I doubt that is the norm.

I'm wonder what region you were at that saw this many cars.

Interestingly, the number of cars in Japan is roughly the same as the number of bikes in circulation.

[TEP_Kim_Il_Sung]

Lots of fat Germans, Polish, Hungarians, and British. Heven't visited other European countries, so couldn't tell you about others.

As to a solution; How about recumbent trikes? Beats dissing foreign nations based on biased preconceptions of healthy lifestyles.

[pjmlp]

Yes, unless you happen to live in top European cities, those that make the top list where to live in Europe, you get there by car.