Why can’t both be done? Bicycles are already cheap, and an electric bike can be purchased under $1000. Not everyone is capable of limiting their commute to the ~10 mile radius an e-bike easily permits. Some of us still need cars, unfortunately. Sometimes the weather is bad, or we have things to haul around, or multiple people to move.
Is there some technology that enables high-speed travel and weighs less than a human, which seems to be an important criteria to you?
In Japan electric bikes were relatively cheap as you say but in Canada, a bike to carry my family costs more than 5-6k, closer to 10k.
I can't even import those electric mama charis because of unwarranted concern about batteries.
Hard to support bike infrastructure when safetyism means bike routes are only for singles and the rich.
>Sometimes the weather is bad, or we have things to haul around, or multiple people to move.
150cm-tall women here in Tokyo have no trouble with all of the above on a bicycle. If they can do it, so can you. They have e-bikes with child seats and cargo baskets, and they wear rain gear when it's raining.
I ride my bike a lot, but in fact need a car where I live if I want to go 10 miles in less than an hour. This is common in most of the US, and we don’t like this lifestyle either. Biking on the street with high speed traffic is not safe here, regardless of your height.
Things are changing in the US. Car-centrism is on its way out, and walkable cities designed for humans are in. I’m really inspired by the new developments in my area. After covid, many US downtowns permanently shut down car traffic on core interior roads, and it’s made the experience 10x better.
I agree, Tokyo is one of the most incredible places I’ve ever visited. I’ve tried to retain some of the sensibilities I observed there, and incorporate them into my lifestyle. Amsterdam similarly inspired me to revisit my lifestyle. If you hate the system you live in, make improvements!
>I ride my bike a lot, but in fact need a car where I live if I want to go 10 miles in less than an hour.
That's fair; I was simply addressing the other objections (weather, cargo, additional people (presumably children)). The women riding on mamachari here aren't riding 16 kilometers AFAICT, but they don't need to because things are generally close together, and for longer trips, people park their bikes at the station and use the train/subway.
>This is common in most of the US, and we don’t like this lifestyle either.
I completely disagree: you might not like it, but my observation is that most Americans prefer their car-centric society just the way it is. The recent election reinforces this.
>Things are changing in the US. Car-centrism is on its way out, and walkable cities designed for humans are in.
Sorry, but this seems like total fantasy. The new administration is not interested in promoting walkability or cycling, nor are the majority of the electorate that voted for them. There's probably a few isolated places like you describe, but to ascribe this to the whole country is terribly naive.
>After covid, many US downtowns permanently shut down car traffic on core interior roads, and it’s made the experience 10x better.
I saw that too, in the affluent blue city I lived in at the time. They reopened the road to car traffic after the worst of the pandemic was over, and things went back to the way they were.
>I agree, Tokyo is one of the most incredible places I’ve ever visited.
Yep, I thought so too, so after the pandemic restrictions were lifted, I decided to find a job and move here because I could see things in America were going downhill, and honestly hadn't enjoyed living in America much in the last 20 years or so, especially since 2016. The recent election proved me right. It's not fun seeing what's going on in America lately, but it's a lot easier and less stressful seeing it from a distance than having to live in it, as I did during the pandemic. Never again.
>If you hate the system you live in, make improvements!
Or instead of tilting at windmills, find a place you like better and just go there, if you can. After all, that's how America itself was built decades and centuries ago. Of course, this isn't the right answer for everyone, but for me it was.