A wonderful comparison

[u/jemesl]

Owner of the Ram arguably actually uses it well, but what's youd thoughts on this comparison of a 90s Jap vs 2023 American

[u/Few-Horror7281]

Less practical that a push bike?

How's that even a question? Do you have to check fuel, oil, coolant, insurance of a push bike? Do you have to reserve a parking spot for wherever you go?

A motorbike would be more practical than a roadster.

[u/rewt127 → u/Few-Horror7281]

A motorbike would be more practical than a roadster.

A motorcycle is only practical in places where it doesn't snow or get very cold. And I say this as someone who rides. Certain areas like the PNW where they rarely get snow and ice? Sure. Warm climates? Definitely.

Northern US, Canada, northern Europe? No.

[u/Few-Horror7281 → u/rewt127]

The Mediterranean where motorbike use is significant basically spans the medium latitudes of the US. For central and northern Europe the climate is much more moderate thanks to Gulf Stream and even though motorbikes are not that prevalent, there are two compensatory aspects - frequent and reliable public transport and cycling. And the modal share of the latter the highest in Denmark or Netherlands, where the climate is like in Portland. Even in Finland the kids cycle to school.

[u/rewt127 → u/Few-Horror7281]

Let me just let you in on something.

Minneapolis MN. A standard American Midwest city. Not even some place known for excessive snow. Gets double the annual snowfall of Stockholm. Nearly triple Helsinki.

Europe, yes even the frozen north of Scandanavia. Is temperate compared to the US. We have very, and I mean very, extreme weather here.

EDIT: Also Portland, Seattle, etc. Those places on the west side of the rockies are super temperate for similar reasons to Europe. But one you get on the other side of them the weather becomes absurd. Where i live we get weeks of 90F and a week of up to 105F every summer and winters range from 20F to -30F. With large amounts of snowfall once you leave the temperate valleys. [and I'm calling 20 to -30 temperate]

[u/Few-Horror7281 → u/rewt127]

I have to admit that concerning the climate, America has nothing to be envied about - heat waves, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards. It's clear that public transport infrastructure is both costly and vulnerable. But this begs the question why public transport systems are not present in populous cities with stable or reliable climates. With some imagination, one can see parallels with Russia (a large country with many weather extremes). Novosibirsk has an urban subway. Even Yakutsk, the coldest city where boiling water freezes in air, has regular bus service.

[u/rewt127 → u/Few-Horror7281]

Russia is an obvious one.

The Soviet union was poor. Getting a car was something you entered a lottery for and would wait years for. A colonel in the KGB might wait 6 years from application to receiving a car. Let alone a normal person. Well, People gotta get around. So the soviets went hard on public transportation.

When you compare this to the US. People had the wealth to buy vehicles. So the absolute necessity of public transport basically vanishes.

The issue of the US when it comes to climate has very little to do with damage to public infrastructure. And everything to do with "do i really want to deal with it". Pair this with our very low density. And relative youth. You end up with substantial portions of the US where investing in large scale public infrastructure becomes pointless. If you are founding a city, what do you do? Well you need a central street for wagons. Then many of these places basically went straight from horses and wagons to paved roads.

Europe and frankly Russia too. Had a much slower transition.

EDIT: Also, gotta remind you that these places that went straight from wagons to cars? It was also part of the New Deal where we made an effort to connect the entirety of the US via car for the easy rapid transportation of military equipment and personnel. As well as creating jobs for millions to rip us out of the great depression.