According to the 2022 Census 80% of US population lives in urban areas.
If could enable this 80% to use bicycles and public transportation we'd experience a massive shift in public health, energy efficiency and reduced emissions...
Yep, I'm not debating that point. I'm 100% in favor of doing that. I'm asking about solutions for everyone else. This debate is usually framed as "all we need to do is" when that isn't the case for everywhere or everyone. Just diving into it a little bit more.
Yeah a solution for the remaining 20% would be great, but we (the US) are not even addressing the urban 80%. I live in the SF Bay Area. It's incredibly dense here, yet riding a bike is impossible/suicidal. It takes me 20 minutes to get to work by car, but 2 hours by bus. This needs to be fixed first before worrying about small town Montana.
Again this is semantics. But this isn't true. Look at the entire state of WV or any state that is mountainous. Unless magically millions of people get in much better shape there isn't an obvious solution. I'm all for better infrastructure and public transport.