> They all want to drive 3-ton SUVs everywhere. To be fair, the sparseness and geographic distribution of population, business and industrial centers in a grea

> They all want to drive 3-ton SUVs everywhere. To be fair, the sparseness and geographic distribution of population, business and industrial centers in a great deal of the US is such that driving a car quickly becomes the only sensible option. A large SUV, sure, that's a valid question. Some of it is also driven by geography/topology. These cities did not evolve with mass transport as an important option. To give you an idea of what this means in practice. I can get to the nearest major airport in about 30 minutes by car (at night, no traffic). If I want to use mass transit, it will take a minimum of 3 hours, only if you time it perfectly. It could take you six hours. It's worse than that. Here's what I would have to do: Walk 30 minutes Get on a bus for 35 minutes Walk for another 5 minutes Get on another bus for 54 minutes Walk another 5 minutes Get on a bus for 20 minutes Walk 30 minutes Arrived Remember that, these days, you have to be at the airport two to three hours before your flight. Now add weather, heat, rain, carrying luggage, perhaps travelling with kids, etc. I'm sorry, even the most ardent environmentalist is going to just throw everything into a large SUV or minivan and just get there. This reality will not change. These cities are simply not designed for what exists in other parts of the world. The only hope we have is a future where shared self-driving robot cars can make a difference. I can't see anything else that might change this reality.