American reacts to Why Europe Is Insanely Well Designed

[@influencerzwerg]

"where do you put your bike?" "How do you get to the train station?" I can't even describe how strange those questions sound to me (a European) lol

[@preventiondechets1767]

la population européenne ne vit pas que dans des villes. j'habite en France, en campagne. la gare la plus proche est à 15-20km donc la question ce pose.

[@foxx9555]

In US you nearly cannot survive without a car in many cities... it's sad TBH.

[@ecenbt]

@@preventiondechets1767 oui mais en France c'est tout a fait possible de conduire sa voiture vers la gare et se garer. Ou utiliser son vélo, qui est mieux. Donc, oui, ce sont des questions un peut drôles

[@groushka]

@@preventiondechets1767 mais ca normal que si tu vis loin de la gare tu va conduire la avant se montrer sur train, c'est plus ecologique que conduire pour la toute route, par example a Varsovie si t'as un billet pour le metro tu peux parker pres de la station du metro gratuit et puis tu jusque prendre le metro

[@rozemarijndegreeuw7528]

Same for me as a dutch person! We have giant (underground) places to park your bike.

[@AFFoC]

"Where would you put your bike" That was so American it was adorable xD

[@Tomvaneester]

Made me laugh too :-)

[@nina-thi]

Yeah, finding someplace to put your bike is so much easier than finding somewhere to park your car. Just use a good bike lock and you’re good, at least where I live

[@jeffafa3096]

Every central train station in The Netherlands has a parking garage for bikes, with Utrecht central station being the largest, having room for 12500 bikes. None of them have a parking garage for cars though

[@flyingwarrior12]

In some countries, like in Romania, it is a concern that people would steal your bike or some parts of it. Romania doesn't really have a good bicycle culture yet, although there is some progress.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

And you can always take your bike on the train. It is not only useful to get from your home to the station, but also from the station at the destination to wherever you'll want to go.

[@ElectroMikeZorgan]

I live in Strasbourg and an INCREDIBLE thing that started going over my head is that I just bike from France to Germany to pickup my amazon packages! The EU really is amazing.

[@dreacul]

No way, I heard EU sux. Thats what every frustrated person on internet says nowadays. Cheers!

[@BrazaG]

@@dreacul The EU is kind of a paradise... anyone who says otherwise is either venting or not an adult.

[@JL-wf2wp]

Yeah if it wasn't for socialism it would be actually good

[@YuriCatqwq]

@@JL-wf2wpwhat is socialism? Never heard that word in the English language, might be because English is my third language

[@JL-wf2wp]

@@YuriCatqwq maybe you are just an idiot. Or you just settled for an average lifestyle working for others making enough money just to eat everyday. Have you ever been to the maldives? Bora bora? I guess not

[@esuterunokitsune3556]

As a European, seeing someone worry over how they'd get to the train station is kinda funny. My logical response is "just take the bus/tram/troley?" cause at least my area is very well connected, and the idea of not having any form of public transit within walking distance just does not compute!

[@yodafloats9090]

Wyoming is 3% bigger than the UK and has a population that is 116 times smaller than the UK. What kind of public transportation do you think that place should have? The entire Midwest is pretty much like that. big city's defiantly need public transportation, but the rest of the country is way too big for it. The population of Wyoming is 578,000 population of the uk is 67 million

[@clockdva20]

Like you said , if you have no Car then you still have a combined Bus and Metro System . People also cycle .you can even take your Bicycle on to public transport .though some times of the day cycles are not allowed on public transport at peaktimes .also bicycles can be taken on regional trains and some inter City trains .basically you do not need a car in most central European countries.

[@yodafloats9090]

@John Spooner you got to remember that Europe is just as big as the USA, but not the population density is 143 people per square mile while America is 34 people per square mile. Rember about the same size, just almost 5x population density. They need it more than we do not that we don't the big city's really do need it

[@221b-Maker-Street]

@@yodafloats9090 An interconnected rail network joining the towns and cities, with buses joining smaller ? You don't _all_ need to travel from one end of Wyoming to the other daily - surely? 48% of all USA car journeys are less than 3 miles; 20% are under *_one_* mile! I mean, do you people not have legs or something?! 🤣

[@yodafloats9090]

@Vatican Cameos I'm not walking 3 miles to somewhere in -20 degrees whether let alone in spring or fall. But most of town in the us are more rural/ urban areas we git huge areas to cross with few Busses. It whould never be profitable for companies to do buss rutes there just in the big city's. Would it be nice ya but but not supper practical. Look up the cannon ball rum it's from NY to Los Angeles. The record is like 24 hours Long with Average speed to 110 mph that's a high speed train speed and the fact it would take 24 hours Is something, I would rather just fly that distance in like 6- 7 hours instead.

[@ostapk8624]

There are "park-and-ride" schemes in europe, where you drive your car or bike to a train or tram station to take public transport in the cities. Secure parking facilities for both cars and bikes are indeed provided at these places.

[@bastik.3011]

And they are often more inexpensive then parking options in the city. Its like 2 Euros for the whole day

[@sirdavidoftor3413]

Toronto and other major cities in Canada have kiss and ride schemes! With some parking options. We add love to your commute! Stay safe, stay sane, stay strong Ukraine 🇺🇦

[@dirkspatz3692]

@@bastik.3011 In more rural areas - close to cities - here in Germany there are often free P&R parking places.

[@dasy2k1]

Many now have park and ride on the outskirts near to highway interchanges served by metro, tram or bus systems into the city centre. Often the parking is free when you buy a day transit ticket

[@bastik.3011]

@@dirkspatz3692 yeah aslong as you have a Train ticket i think. Our SBahn Station has free Parking to i think

[@jp5125]

"I've never even used a train, I used a subway" That is a train bro

[@RavishmentBrutal]

dude what is himmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[@GoranXII]

Theoretically, yes, but subways, like trams tend to work within cities, while trains take you _between_ cities.

[@X.Enhypen.X]

Trains and subways are different trust me they are definitely different for example you can travel to different countries with trains, trains have way better seets and not plastic clairs +the way a train function is also different then a Subway. Subway is for travelling in a city wile trains are for travelling to different city

[@jeremylankou3523]

In my city in Rennes in France, the subways have tires, we call it "The VAL" for Light Automatic Vehicle.

[@Fartsniffer11-xm4rf]

no, trains use overhead electric cables or diesel locomotives, whilst subway variated locomotives use electrically powered rails

[@CatzHoek]

The map at 0:35 shows maybe about 5% of the network in europe. It must have been reduced to some main connections that cross borders or so. The map itself is doing a horrible job at showing the actual density of the network. And the narrator even describes this totally simplified and thinned out map as incredibly dense and there are almost no areas without coverage. Oh man. And the road network at 4:34 where he probably means Interstates and major highways is even worse. I am sorry but this guy keeps comparing apples with oranges and it's funny

[@jillingkoke]

Exactly. You can't stress it enough that the actual rail and road networks in Europe are way, way, way more dense than presented in the original video. The maps look like some sort of joke to me.

[@viciousyeen6644]

I was sooo annoyed by that too!

[@mmatildet]

It is actually a map of the interrail. A rail for countries around the EU and just international

[@CatzHoek]

But still, it's merely a simplified artistic map they use on their website but has nothing to do with the actual train network. There is no such thing as "the interrail". It's a ticket, not a network.

[@krisjanisstipnieks2632]

At 4:34 its definetly major highways or cross-country highways.

[@janrodo4978]

I live in Warsaw. Within 10min walk I have: a huge shopping center, another two grocery stores, gas station, pool, metro station, two bus stations, church, vet, dentist and probably millions other places you usually don’t visit often. I’m not kidding. To get to work I simply walk to the bus stop that is 100m away from my apartment. And the drive time is exactly 12minutes. I have been to US twice. I love this country, awesome people, beautiful nature, great memories. But the transportation system SUCKS, there is so many things wrong with it that I don’t know where to start. Just let me tell one thing. I lived in some kind of residential area where nearest shop was 15minutes away BY CAR.

[@yushkovyaroslav]

yeah, every metropolitan city has that mate, nothing new. Ever been to NYC? you have everything within 5-minute walk as well... But the roads freaking suck in EU. So 5 minute walk is like 20 minute drive there. US if its 5 minute walk its 3 minute drive XD.

[@lecoureurdesbois86]

So you were in a low density area and expected shops?

[@krakis51]

@@lecoureurdesbois86 I live in a low density area, I have everything I need in my village. And even a train station, with trains which go to the main lines every hour. So yeah, I do expect at least shops tbh, even if they're small

[@thecursedgalleon7096]

​@@yushkovyaroslavThe thing is European infrastructure is based around pedestrians, whereas the US is mainly focused on car infrastructure, which is why the US has massive roads and wider cars, whereas Europe has smaller roads and therefore cars

[@yushkovyaroslav]

@@thecursedgalleon7096 nope. it's not focused on anything it was build when there were no cars and mainly build "as the horses went" and horses go randomly. They had no design and clue what they were doing. (Only Germany changed that design during 1900s because they were desperately trying to get ahead of all of Europe, and it worked. for all the wrong reasons) Having straight roads is best for cars and pedestrians, as its 100 times easier to navigate. You can go anywhere in the city without a gps in US and in EU you can only do it if you lived there for years since the roads designs make absolutely no sense. The reason it even matters is not only that its more comfortable and less of a pain, but also that it is a logistic nightmare to do large scale operations anywhere in EU if it's not Germany. If any EU country had even 25% of US logistics it would collapse on itself because of its road infrastructure that is littered with unnecessary things, roadblocks, over complicated turns, illogical pathing, extra milage roads that go around instead of through an area, illogical spacing, and most importantly no logical design whatsoever. (Talking about in cities, the highways are actually really well designed in most areas) There is nothing good about it in the modern world. If people like the infrastructure and design of EU cities that is one thing, but the roads is a vital organ of a country's logistics and anyone who is worth anything understands that its very unfortunate that EU ended up like this due to its early historic success. Similar to US adapting the imperial system and is unable to change it now even though it makes absolutely no sense. But as time goes by and economies continue to grow this has too and will be changed, but current generation will not live to see it, most likely.

[@TurtleTodd]

As a person from Czechia this part 11:20 was taken for granted but watching This i realised how much free space we have for walking in EU

[@ushiefreebird7470]

The difference is just that European cities were built long before cars were invented. Some cities are 2000 years old, but most at least a 1000 years or so. In South East France, at the Italian border, where I live, the landscape is rather steep towards an amazing coastline, and villages were built with steps leading further up. There are steps everywhere. These were built hundreds of years ago. Now a fancy city like Monaco has ajusted to this by building lifts next to the steps. So you do not need a car at all.

[@fabiansaerve]

Well but tbf American cities also weren’t build around cars. There are good photos on the internet where you can see many cities 80 years ago. They were TRANSFORMED to be car cities. Like the video mentioned in America many homes were destroyed to build highways. Even to day they do this. Same for the Netherlands. When you go back 80 years you will see that the cities arnt build around bikes. It was as car centric as any another European city but they transformed it to be one. Boston is a great example where they didn’t destroy the whole city just for highways and parking lots.

[@007arek]

@@fabiansaerve When there weren't many cars, Europe was also more car focused. It was more difficult do do (also because of the history - you won't destroy a church that has 1000 years in order to build a road). Nowadays the EU promotes alternatives to cars.

[@penguin3540]

@@fabiansaerve well America did this because at the time, cars seemed so modern and these highways were meant to help with transportation between cities. Most European cities were still focused on rebuilding after WW2 and also wanted to preserve their cities

[@incaseofimportantnegotiations]

a chariot is bigger than a car and it craps everywhere

[@TheAzorg]

@@incaseofimportantnegotiations i'd like a chariot ride to work and back and crap at them peasants i have to work with (that's a joke lads, don't take this seriously!)

[@leaf2423]

I'm from Germany and it is so interesting to see things from another perspective. It really helps to remind myself that we all live in our small bubbles. thank you :) Oh and - one reason why our transportation system is not perfect: The trains are alway AND I MEAN ALWAYS late ;-;

[@viviankilloran385]

Wow! I lived in Germany 32 years ago and you could set your watch by the trains and buses. I guess times have changed.

[@arwal3025]

Deutsche Bahn is a desaster 😅

[@crescentmoondemon6288]

So true german trains are a disaster

[@jessicake97]

Or they get cancelled or drive off from another Plattform number (like every dann time I'm in berlin)

[@eleadetrebons3116]

an Austrian student who came to study in my french school said the biggest obstacle on his travel was the DeutschBahn... But yall prices for the same trains are better than french ones, so I still prefer Deutschbahn to go to Germany X)

[@MarisolFerreiraMarysoul]

7:03 oh... 🙂‍↕️... On the stands for bikes with locks?

[@walterjoshuapannbacker1571]

" Most people in Europe own a car , though ..." - I actually got rid of my car six months ago - and I am surprised at how "relaxed" I am when I get home from work after an hour on the train compared to 90 minutes in heavy car traffic.

[@xdlol59]

I go home in 30 minutes by a tram and by a car I would spend 90 minutes! (because of car traffic) I love trams

[@piau1798]

And don’t forget you can read, listen to Musik, do homework (done that so often as a student) etc while getting transported. Not possible whilst driving a car

[@colachofcb]

@@piau1798 Or sleep 😅

[@Delibro]

I bought myself a car when I started a new job, cus by train it was 60+ minutes and by car 20 minutes, and I live and work in a major city in Germany. But individual anecdotes don't tell much, studies does. A study say that car is much faster most times, even with traffic included. But that's why you have both in Europe, car and public traffic.

[@phoearwenien4355]

@@Delibro Depends. I refuse to own a car, because I live in a centre of a big city in Europe and know from experience how much time it takes to move from one street to another by car (most often it is faster to just walk which is absurd in itself). And it's not anegdotal, it's as obvious to everyone as the sun rising on the East. So, every time my family visits me, I had to include them being late at least half an hour, despite knowing it would take less without a car. The most efficient and fast transportation you can get to commute in a big city is a combination of tram/train/metro and electric kickscooter. That's a jackpot combination. Only when you need to move long distances form village to village the car would be much more efficient.

[@peterw.8434]

6:58 its the perfect example for what goes wrong with north america’s car centric society. When thinking about how to get somewhere you immediately think about going there by car, its the default option - no questions asked. But when thinking about taking the bike you wonder were to put your BIKE… I think its hilarious considering the differences in effort to creating car parking spaces compared to cycle stands…

[@yodafloats9090]

Wyoming is 3% bigger than the UK and has a population that is 116 times smaller than the UK. What kind of public transportation do you think that place should have? The entire Midwest is pretty much like that. big city's defiantly need public transportation, but the rest of the country is way too big for it.

[@peterw.8434]

@@yodafloats9090 that doesn‘t excuse the “limited” perspective about the topic at hand in the population. One should still consider cycling if it’s a viable option.

[@yodafloats9090]

@Peter W. true

[@penguin3540]

I mean it’s not profitable to connect a small town to another small town. Americans don’t go out of their town or city often

[@penguin3540]

@@peterw.8434 well American cities are so spread out that biking just isn’t an option for most trips Americans go on. It’s too late to save America at this point. It won’t be profitable anymore to put public transit in the Midwest because Americans don’t go out of their town or state often and most Americans drive as their first thought

[@mateomihalache799]

I live in Madrid and you'd genuinely be surprised by how easy it is to travel through the whole city without a car only with the Metro (subway) and any bus. And this is only 8€ for as many uses as you want for a whole MONTH for people under 26yo I think. Also I think it'd interesting for an American citizen to see how interrail works in Europe, I did one with my friends this year and it seemed unimaginable to travel so much distance (8 countries) without the possibility to take some kind of public transportation since we just couldn't have a car

[@jh5kl]

Madrid nuevo norte for the win 👍👍

[@jadr3123]

Pues ven a Extremadura en tren, verás que birria de transporte público tenemos. Y todo porque no hay dinero público debido a que ya fue gastado en construir ese transporte maravilloso de Madrid que describes. En España todos no somos iguales, eso en una falacia de la Constitución.

[@Capitanasandia]

@@jadr3123 En CyL muchos pueblos casi no tienen transporte público, sólo un bus que va los findes de semana para llevar a la gente a la ciudad más cercana (te hablo sobre todo de pueblos en la Sierra de Gredos. La zona de León y tal se me escapa cómo será) y aunque es bastante mediocre el transporte, están cada vez creando más bonos para poder viajar. Por ejemplo ahora existen los bonos de tren de media y larga distancia que conecta dos paradas, las que tú quieras y por ejemplo, para el de media distancia, pagando 20 euros trimestrales puedes realizar todos los viajes que quieras (pero nunca faltes tres veces, porque te quitan el bono). Si sabes cómo comunicarte hasta la estación más cercana está bastante bien. Prueba a cotillear en la página de Renfe, o ve a alguna taquilla. Espero que esto te sirva de ayuda :)

[@GabrielCastro-l8p]

@@jadr3123 Hombre, es que lo siento mucho pero es que Extremadura ni tiene tanta gente, ni aporta tanto como Madrid. No tendría mucho sentido poner la misma infraestructura ahí, la verdad. Es una pena, pero eso es así.

[@GabrielCastro-l8p]

From Madrid you can also go to plenty of the big cities on the country pretty fast through the high speed train. Madrid-BCN is 2:50 hours. Not bad at all since it's 506 kms apart and you go comfy as hell. I love trains myself, and the connection between big cities is great.

[@antoninodarioconti6347]

I can understand this situation better than others. I live in Europe, but in a poor region (Sicily, southern Italy). Here, a car is a must. Public transport are still not a very attractive option. But. I went to work to northern Italy for five months. I went there with my car, thinking I would need it sometime. No. I didn't. I had to go to my car and turn it on weekly just to not make the battery die. Because the public transports were so well designed and cost-effective that actually driving the car was a loss of time and money. Now there are big investments to enhance public transports in my city, and I like the design that was announced. I am looking forward to use them in the future. Maybe I won't need to own a car at all.

[@giacomoneri1782]

Però onestamente avere la macchina è meglio. Puoi andare dove vuoi all'ora che vuoi, e non ti devi sorbire tutti gli zozzi e i ladri che trovi sui mezzi pubblici. Già in Toscana, parlando dell'area urbana di Firenze, Prato e Pistoia, dopo il tramonto sei a piedi. Fuori dai centri urbani poi non c'è alternativa. E non conviene neanche averla, per l'uso che se ne farebbe costerebbe troppo e non sarebbe versatile. È più semplice avere mezzi propri. Certo, forse in alcuni grandi centri urbani magari conviene potenziare i mezzi pubblici e conviene dare il più possibile la possibilità a chi viene da fuori città di poter lasciare l'auto fuori dalle mura e di spostarsi coi mezzi pubblici. Non a caso a Roma ci sono gli autobus notturni, avendo un turismo e una vita notturna importanti se lo possono permettere.

[@svenlima]

+antoniodario... In the south of Italy public transport a catastrophy. The time tables are completely arbitrary. From Cosenza to Lecce you need a whole day although it's only 150 km - that's the distance I did (once) on rollerskates! So I'm as fast on Rollerskates than an Italian train in the south.

[@antoninodarioconti6347]

@@svenlima Salerno-Reggio Calabria has improved drastically in recent years. Let's hope we will be able to see the rest becoming at least "decent" in the next years.

[@SarahGeorges-r6c]

I live in Basel, Switzerland. There are actual studies here that show, that the fastest way to get from any point in the city to another is actually by bike. Followed by public transport of course. Cars aren't even allowed to drive in the large parts of the inner city.

[@autolykos9822]

Yeah, public transit is kinda meh in the European countryside (even in Germany, which damn well should have the money for good public transport). It usually gets you to the biggest city in the region in acceptable time (and from there to other large cities), but if you want to go anywhere else, you're SoL. And long distance train tickets are still often twice as expensive as taking the car, even with the high taxes on gasoline. Our railway system used to be good up to the 90s, but nowadays it's rapidly approaching American levels.

[@Fabian-Wenzel]

The yellow lines you see are just the main rail routes. There are many more regional rail routes in Europe, but they are all connected to the main rail routes. When I was younger I loved to travel all over Germany by train. When you travel by train you see a lot more of Germany than when you take the autobahn. On the Autobahn you have to concentrate on driving and on the train you can look out the window and take in the scenery. I have also travelled to other countries by train, such as France, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands and Austria. Most EU countries belong to the Schengen area, so travelling is very easy because there are no more border controls. Although Norway is not part of the EU, but it is a member of the Schengen area because the EU has signed an association agreement with Norway. The only exception is the Norwegian island of Svalbard as this island is not part of the Schengen area. Svalbard is also very complicated from a legal point of view, as Norway shares sovereignty over Svalbard with Russia. This contract between Norway and Russia over Svalbard is very old. Iceland is also not a member of the EU but is part of the Schengen area. The EU has also concluded an association agreement with Iceland. However, Switzerland has overdone it because it has signed so many treaties with the EU that it can enjoy all the benefits of the EU without being a member. Many Europeans don't think that's great.

[@noefillon1749]

Well... actualy these are not even the main ones, because some routes appear on this map and don't exist IRL (ex : Lyon-Bordeaux in France). So yes there are way more than on this map BUT this map isn't even accurate regarding the main routes. I don't know where they took their information but it's quite wrong.

[@BlackHoleSpain]

@@noefillon1749 That map shows just the European Union planning for *major* corridors inside Europe for 2030!!!! Completely false as of 2023! And that's only for major corridors, but not at all for the *HUGE* infrastructure currently active. For example in Spain there are 18,000 km of highways and 4,000 km of High Speed Railways, along with the old 280,000 km of conventional roads. And that's just a tenth (10%) of all European transport network!!!!!!!

[@_Its_Ya_Boy]

American here, I have a similar story to yours (commonly traveling) and can recognize the fun of it, but as an American, we don’t really have that many trains like the video says, though the video only mentions a single railroad company, unfortunately the videos correct on the whole car thing and that’s where I regret this country’s infrastructure, it’s not that much fun to ride in cars for hours when traveling, so I would rather have their infrastructure

[@Celtjak7]

Mentioning Svalbard is pointless, maybe 100 people live there permanently, it's of no importance

[@kragiharp]

How do you get to the train station? 7:25 You walk, take a bus, tram, car, scooter or bike. If it's rush hour the scooter or bike goes into a bike locker that you can rent or you lock it up at a rack. If it's not rush hour you can take them on the train. This might cost extra, depending on the type of train. Wheelchairs and baby carriages have a right of way before bikes on trains and trams. So it is possible that you have to wait for the next one, if you want to take it with you.

[@FranckOA42]

Don't forget foldable bikes, as there are many that take less ground space than a standing person when folded ;o)

[@dennis_nl7587]

Busses drive you to the train stations in Europe, so you don't have to run a train track through a village or city. We have busses in the smallest towns so people can still get around. And yes, you can also drive your bike to the train station. There are special stalls where you can safely put your bike.

[@shar4803]

In our town we have 3 bus stops not even 3 minutes (bus drive) apart from each other, I could walk to the next stop within 5 minutes. Being on the opposite end of town from the train station (10 minute walk) it's nice to have the bus in order to get there to get to school, even if I could get there within a reasonable time by foot! I'm very happy with our train/bus system in Europe (specifically germany) even if there's a small delay every now and then

[@dennis_nl7587]

@shar4803 exactly, in my miniature town, we also have like 5 or 6 bus stops with 5 minute walks apart. The bus that goes through the town passes 2 or 3 other towns and goes directly to a train station. From that train station you can go through the whole Netherlands, with 2 trains you can go from South to North

[@shar4803]

@@dennis_nl7587 Yeah like from ours it's a half an hour drive to the next one, connecting us to the rest of Germany and we could even drive (directly) to Paris. American train systems genuenly baffel me

[@stevenvanhulle7242]

Or you take your bike on the train. I know like a gazillion people who ride a foldable bike for that purpose.

[@fuqupal]

What are you talking about? Most major European cities I've been to have subways or trams that take you to the train stations. Or both! But I guess You could take a bus too. If you wanna be miserable and get there SLOWLY!

[@Minecraft-ci2cg]

Driving to the train station is an actual thing by the way. It’s called Park and Ride and is usually done outside of cities so that you don’t have to find parking in city itself but rather just outside where there is more space for parking

[@bzs187]

P+R is a nice thing and it can work, because in Europe, we have public transport.

[@brandondavis7777]

@@bzs187 Okay? You say that like relying on government to move around makes you "better"? It actually makes you a slave.

[@damionlee7658]

@@brandondavis7777 you're funny... Brainwashed, but funny.

[@bzs187]

@@brandondavis7777 Wao... Did not expect this for sure. They don't make me a slave. If I can park my car at the city border and use public transportation to move around, without sitting in the traffic jam for hours. I will park my car, because I can use my legs and there is a good alternative. Yet, I fail to see the slavery in this and many more millions who would love to have alternative for a car.

[@brandondavis7777]

@@damionlee7658 That's some adorable projection. Typical of your kind, though

[@ainhoagarrido3965]

The thing about public transport in Europe is that, as you said, it's near where people live. If I wanted to take the subway, I'd only have to get out of my house, walk for 4 minutes and I'm already at the subway, whereas in America it's all more far away.

[@milojakari-kogane7668]

its insanenly close lol, for examploe, to get to school i either take the train thats genuinely like right next door, or go to the buss top right outside the building. i even have a restaurant, grocery story, primary school and nursery in a 200m radius. not to mention the high school thats like 10 mins SLOW WALK away.

[@rabbit4400]

I am 33 years old, grew up in Sweden and now living in Hungary, traveled to Finland, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Greece and Spain to name a few. I dont have a drivers license and only used public transportation. Okay, I have cheated a few times and taken a cab but Its less than 10 times.

[@tomasbriceno2319]

The cab is still public transportation so I would not call it cheating.

[@Jay-tv2lz]

@@tomasbriceno2319 its not really public tho since you are a private customer and there are no strangers inside the cab besides the driver who you are paying

[@tomasbriceno2319]

@@Jay-tv2lz It's public since the user does not own the car and each car is used by many people. Also cabs (at least in Europe) are regulated by either the gobernment or the municiplaty, even if they are not owned by public agencies. We can argue abut carsharing services where you drive a hired car or about private unregulated services like Uber and Cabify, since these are a bit outside those rules. However, taxi services, at least in Spain (my country) and most European contries I've been to are considered public transportation.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

I only ever take a cab in the night when there is no train service in my home town. Last train arrives around 1 in the night and first one is around 5:30. Had to do that maybe twice in my life. Usually its easier to just sleep over at a friends place if I go out in a city. Also dont have a drivers license in my 30s. My girlfriend thinks its a bit weird but I just cant be bothered to pay about 3000 euro just to get a piece of paper that says I can drive when I dont want or need to own a car. Would be useful for emergencies but then I can just call a cab and it saves a lot of money not owning a car. If my girlfriend comes over I usually call her a cab from the train station, it costs me 20-30 euro which is expensive but I can easily afford that out of the 500 euro a month I dont spend on car ownership.

[@0Defensor0]

Actually, there are a lot of places where the train goes through a neighborhood. This usually happens when the cities grow, and the new suburbia gets built along the rail. You usually can find smaller stations similar to bus stops too, so the people who live there have an easy access to travel. Also, most people in Europe don't necessarily need a car (or even a bike) for the daily life, because public transportation can usually manage the work commuters, and if you need groceries or something, there are small shops everywhere, within a 5-10 minute distance. And when I say 5-10 minute, I mean on foot, not with a car.

[@vrenelimeyer2856]

I definitely have to disagree on the point we don't need cars. I live in germany and in the countryside (still one of the better connected rural areas though) and you most definitely need a car here. Public transport is great in the larger cities but not in the countryside. For my last job I had to drive about 30 minutes or alternatively (but not really) I could take the bus the evening before, sleep at a random busstop and take another bus for the last stretch. There was literally no other way to be at my place of work at 8am. Busses and trains leve here about every few hours. But they won't take you everywhere and on weekends or after like 9pm you're stuck. And did I mention about 70% of busses only go on school days?

[@viomouse]

@@vrenelimeyer2856 Most people do live in cities or close to cities, though. And with a combination of bike and bus/train, really, most people could manage.

[@Desperoro]

@@viomouse hey not sure about it. I mean, many people don´t need a car if they live and work in same city, but still you have some scenarios where car is better option. Traveling long distance to some village is one of them, transporting bigger things, and even going for trip or hike. Many people have car, like their car, but they use it sensible, so they dont go into the center of city with it, they dont commute every day with it, they just know when car makes sense

[@ApricusInaros]

@@Desperoro Yes, I agree on the transporting bigger things or travelling to farout countryside villages. But unfortunately I see the problem that most people don't use their car in a sensible way. People have a car and then use it for everything, also for travelling into a nearby city center. And then there is the thing of having multiple cars in a family which often times is nothing but luxury. With this thoughtless use of a car, they provide perfect targets for the anti-car political campaigns. I'm pro car but I urge people think to what to use it for, and maybe use public transportation or bikes and such in a complementary way.

[@Drusille]

yep because ppl lives in downtown and there are shops on the 0 floors and apartments/ condos on the top, so sometimes you just go downstairs to do your groceries , buy books, clothes, at small cities like mine ( 35.000 inhabitants) there's no culture of a mall where all shops are there together.

[@MkPlasma]

In Europe, you take your car and go to the train station if you’re far from it (and you park your car in park places) or you take a bike, public transports, or walk if you’re in cities. And in cities we’ve some ‘’parking places’’ or underground parkings bcs all the place is occupated.

[@siliconvalley577]

11:31 YES that‘s one of the best parts of European city centers. In Germany, these roads are called „Fußgängerzone“ (pedestrian zone) and can be pretty big, like several blocks.

[@Zure619]

Wait, pedestrian zones are not a thing in the US!?

[@georgwarhead2801]

@@Zure619 in the US, the only "pedestrian zones" that i can think of, are malls, where as in europe they dedicate entire parts of a city to be pedestrian zones.

[@tommi_xiaomi]

i hate it, because it's usually a huuuge block of concrete without any plants, grass or anything.

[@natchu96]

@@Zure619 There's kinda no point when you physically won't get anywhere useful on foot most of the time...

[@JeroenJA]

@@georgwarhead2801 in Gent starting from the nineties, goed city goverment because there was a huge resistance! especially from shops ! in the end, shops did way better, EXCEPT those that selled really big things like electronics and such, those have been pushed away. you need a special licence if you really need to be there to be allowed in :). and it contains the biggest part of the historic mediaval city center, so busy that they started a few years ago to forbid cycling in 2 busy shopping street on saterday between the usually pretty busy hours ;).

[@missmaddy]

One of my Uni profesor told us. "The easiest way to tell if a country is truly developed and not pretending, they must have more public transportation than cars."

[@yushkovyaroslav]

Thats idiotic

[@lecoureurdesbois86]

I can guarantee you that every single country on Earth has more cars than busses and trains

[@gamudo]

​@@lecoureurdesbois86By that, he meant it like that taking a PT is more common than going by a car

[@irrelevant_noob]

@@lecoureurdesbois86 now factor in the CAPACITY of those buses and trains, and compare again?

[@giacomoneri1782]

It's not convenient for all situations. Public transportation works in big cities with lots of tourists and night life, where you can run it at every hour and still gain from it. Outside the downtown of the main touristic cities it just isn't convenient. It costs way less, both in price and in enviromental impact, to have private vehicles rather than have an efficient public transportation that can satisfy everyone, if in most places you have to move around just a bunch of people in a span of hours.

[@tiemen9095]

That map at 0:35 only shows the long distance trains which is a tiny portion of the total train network. In the editor's defense, showing the entire network would mean just painting the entirety of europe yellow, with a few green spots here and there.

[@tioforu7203]

Ryan being tricked by himself just made my day

[@alinadornieden8411]

yeah, its his own fault he forgot the difference between EU and Europe :D

[@jensschroder8214]

If you want to go to European cities then I advise you to take the parking lot in front of the city and take the rest of the way by bus or train. Finding a parking space in the city can be a big task.

[@reinhard8053]

And expensive. When I'm going with my RV I use a campsite and the get a day pass which often is less expensive then parking for 3 hours in the city. Working in the (my) inner city is nearly impossible by car. Most of the area is only 3h parking (for about 2€/h) if you don't live there. And you still need to find a free spot. Parking houses are even more expensive. Parking lots are very rare.

[@iamcurious9541]

Which is by design. Parking lots create distance. However it is density that improves people's lives (having all nessesarry stores close). And also businesses (having plenty of customers).

[@reinhard8053]

@@iamcurious9541 And a lot of it is simple history and not killing everything of it. In the 60ies there were car centric changes but not to that extent as in the US. And of course not in the old parts of the cities if they survived the war. And there often is just no place for parking lots and ground is expensive. Apart from parking houses there is only one open parking lot in the center of my town which has only about 20-30 spots. And of course some at the side of the roads.

[@danielhopkins2277]

Depends on the city, just like in America, Asia, etc

[@_JOJ_]

It's not necessary to leave it in front of the cities, in most cities you can find parking spots for days in residential areas. And from there there's usually like a 5-10 minute walk to the city center. And again it depends which city it is, if it's München or Bucharest at rush hour we're talking about then you might not find parking spots even on the edge of the city.

[@user-pp9iq9ni5f]

in germany those roades where people are just walking are called "fußgängerzone" and they are in the older parts of cities so the houses dont get dmgd etc

[@raybishop1130]

I took the train from New York City to Williamsburg Virginia once - about 400 miles. It took 11 hours. (scheduled for about 8 hours) Same distance from London to Edinburgh is scheduled at about 4 1/2 hours.

[@verttijineu2776]

London to Edinburgh (Waverley) by train: distance of around 332 miles (534 km). 4h 10m on the fastest services. That's 83mph or 133 kph. It's slow by European standards. French TGV Paris-Bordeaux: 2h03mn for a 630 km long travel.

[@raybishop1130]

@@verttijineu2776 Only 332 miles? I took the distance from Google maps, but that was by road. I know it's slow compared to high speed lines in Europe but compared to Amtrak it's like teleporting!

[@MrToradragon]

@@verttijineu2776 TGV and ICE are still bit of an exception. If you would look on something like Open Railway Map, then most of the lines are build for much lower speed.

[@Labyrinth6000]

Just get a car

[@MajorMagna]

@@raybishop1130 if I recall, you were closer at 400, the railway from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley is something like 392 miles.

[@richardherkert7436]

@6:58 "I guess you could ride your bike to the train, but where do you put it". The Netherlands: Hold my beer.

[@randomguy8107]

You put it either in the train and take it wherever you’re going, or you leave it in a bike park

[@piciponda]

Yes. People from small villages drive to the nearby train station and take the train then, to avoid traffic jams, parking issues, etc. same with bikes. ( There are bike parkings, especially in the Netherlands).

[@MADHIKER777]

Since retiring, I've spent some time travelling through Europe. It is almost sickening to come back to the USA to see how badly we have designed society. Many in Europe have shared car for out of town weekend trips, etc. They don't need one daily but the sharing gives them freedom. I've traveled extensively for a month at a time and rented a car only once each trip for an overnight excursion to some really remote destination. Mass transit is so easy, practically taking you from door to door with the mix of trains, subways, trams & busses. And all inclusive transportation passes are super affordable, no comparison to the expense of a car.

[@deangeloaddison-dd5mn]

it a continent vs on country why are u disappointed

[@sshreddderr9409]

its nice to have, but I I would prefer cheapers cars, gas and more space. its nice to not need a parking lot in a big city, but I dont care about living in a city. I want to enjoy my car, and have my space, and make my own schedule.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

move to america @@sshreddderr9409

[@JVlk-tw6fs]

@@sshreddderr9409 And then you get huge obesity rates, almost no public spaces, food deserts, ecology deterioration. And the cherry on the cake. You don't even realise how much time do you waste because 1 - everything is so far away, 2 - Cars are slover and I'm not counting in the time to park, maintain it or traffic jams. Berlin - München: 6 hours by car, 4 hours by train. One more thing is safety, (US - 120 death per million, EU - 40) Also, prices. I pay 49€ (53$) per month to use all types of public transportation in Germany, except DB. But all subways, buses, sbahns and even ferries are included.

[@jwideuluisinaein]

​@@sshreddderr9409you can do that too in europe, they didn't show it in the video but at least in my European country, driving around with a car is also easy

[@dercount804]

There are actually places at many, if not most, train stations in Europe where you can put and lock up your bike. Some of them are public and free to use, for some you have to pay (which have higher security), and I have seen that at some stations you can even rent a spot inside of a secure area to leave your bike there on a regular basis, e.g. when you have to go to work by train.

[@skillspronto3401]

Or if you live in the uk and don’t want some chav/pikey liking your wheels just bring it with you

[@jugatsumikka]

You take piblic transports, like bus or tramway to the train station, it doesn't suck because it is also cheap and mostly efficient.

[@_cherry_bloom_]

In Italy there is a saying "Every road leads to Rome". Literally you can pick any road from north Italy and by the time you get close Bologna you start to see signs for Rome. Even roads to the country side can lead you easily there without using highways (especially if you don't want to pay for the toll) but it will take more time to reach

[@flummi6966]

Same in german, and tbh i saw various times roadconstruction that removed all to the cobblestone layer and i am actually living on a roman build street in cologne.Its still cobblestone.

[@Infidi]

that's because the earliest roads were built by Roman legions to be used by the Roman legions when conqu... ahem... I mean defending, yes, defending Rome

[@_cherry_bloom_]

@@Infidi yes, indeed, it was for defence

[@CKLach]

We have the same saying in Poland. About Rome

[@Jorge-ux5eg]

Typical saying in Spain too

[@alidaveldman3526]

A lot of the parking spaces in the larger cities here in the Netherlands are actually underground or very well hidden (A lot of the other countries in Europe have this as well, but this is from my Dutch experience). When these cities were build, cars didn't exist yet so we couldn't 'keep them in mind' while planning. Has forced us to be creative that's for sure.

[@carmenl163]

Actually, that is not how things went. 'Not just bikes' is a YT channel that has a lot of interesting videos about this subject. It comes down to making certain choices, which were made in the '90s.

[@irrelevant_noob]

@@carmenl163 Many (and i mean MANY) cities all over Europe were already well established (and their main roads too) before the 1800s... All that those '90s could do was to ask how they can FIT what is already there, without razing it all down and starting from scratch...

[@carmenl163]

@@irrelevant_noob That's not what happened. During the sixties and seventies there were made many adjustments for cars. In the 90's those were undone. NJB shows this in his videos.

[@irrelevant_noob]

@@carmenl163 idk... when you say "adjustments" i can only think how a whole neighborhood was flattened in my city to make room for a grandiose palace. And even that didn't quite "fix" the roads. Not much point in having 6 lanes there if all the access routes will only be 2-wide.

[@carmenl163]

@@irrelevant_noob In Amsterdam they turned some canals (Elandsgracht, Rozengracht)into streets for cars. I mean those sort of adjustments.

[@ivojansen7625]

10:47, Amsterdam is shown, and in the Netherlands, we have more bikes than people actually

[@jaizzj.z.3690]

Greetings from Europe! I am very much impressed by how intelligent your questions and comments actually were and how you strike the perfect balance between what is the ideal and what is actually realistically possible to achieve. Very nice video, keep the good job!

[@kevinbot1314]

as a dutch person who uses the train daily: we bike to the station and theres bike parking lots (well racks, lots of em) at the station. and then we have another "station bike" (aka run down bike that we all buy 2nd hand for a few bucks, most likely stolen but we dont care) to bike further. but also loads of steps and skateboard users take theit mode of transport with them on the train.

[@co_lo4883]

Every duch person got five bikes. One in the canal. One stolen. One on his boat. One at home. And one he is searching for

[@lucyd_demon]

@@co_lo4883 there is a quite similar phrase (without the boat thing) in the german city called Münster xD

[@Delibro]

Why you need a station bike when you drove to the station with your other bike and lock it there?

[@hendrikperdok2965]

@@Delibro 2nd bike is at the station to ride to work /school

[@kaelon9170]

Or, as many Dutch people nowadays do, rent a public transit bike at the destination station! :) For non-dutch people, YES! we have "public transit" bikes haha. They're basically just rental bikes, except we use our public transit passes to rent them and they get billed as part of public transit journeys, making renting those bikes much less of a hassle. I can walk into the bike rental at the station, take a bike, present my pass, and walk out with the bike all under a minute or so.

[@joanil911]

I’m from Norway and where I live I can reach a train station, multiple bus stops, shopping center, 5 different grocery stores and more by just walking for 15 minutes

[@doomse150]

11:02 That part is not strictly accurate. The free travel is due to the Schengen agreement, which includes more countries than just the EU members.

[@budapestkeletistationvoices]

And you can spend more time than 90 days in the so called area of freedom

[@ClaudiaG.1979]

i live in rural germany and i own a car. I rarely travel by train or bus. But when i do, the next bus stop i just 500 meters away and the bus drives to the train station. Bus schedules are pinned at the bus stop or available online. Bigger cities have a "park and ride" parkinglot in the outskirts of the city. Its safe to park your car there and travel to the city center by bus. Most cities are lacking parkingslots and/or are really expensive.

[@Mehaara]

Well, the "other" Claudia from rural Germany said exactly what I wanted to say, so I just vote this up. :-)

[@brandondavis7777]

"Rural Germany". Lmfao. It's adorable that Europeans think they have rural areas.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

@@brandondavis7777 The only true rural areas are in Australia anyways, when the next neighbor is 4 hours by car away.

[@brandondavis7777]

@@HappyBeezerStudios Australia ain't got shit on the USA in terms of rural areas.

[@Ddlounis]

Well maybe somebody That DB is amongst the worse train company in the Europe hahah 75% delays

[@LorexDaGoat]

the train 7:06 is from switzerland (sbb = schweizer bundes bahn) and in my opinion the best train system in europe (im from switzerland and know really well how they look like). fun fact in switzerland travelling with train is faster than with a car cause of speed limit 120 km/h and the pretty good job of sbb

[@jeffafa3096]

6:15 Yes, most people in Europe own a car, but no, they don't drive it to the train station. Train stations are easily accessible by bicycle or bus connections. Most large city centers are also devoid of cars, with parking garages on the edges of the city (which are usually accessible by highway rings around the city).

[@sidlerm1]

Now that was a gross generalisation. In fact many cities have a park and ride system and many people coming from the suburbs will go to the train station with their car. Also, center of cities being pedestrian also isn't that common. Guess you must be from Netherlands because it's literally the only country where all of this applies, but Netherlands beats the rest of Europe by a huge gap here

[@MotivationSHCUM]

@@sidlerm1 Many? What shit are you spewing? You pulled that info out your ass? You can travel to train station by car, but most people arrived their by any means that are not cars, be it public transport, biking or by foot.

[@lolalo6344]

7:00 as a Dutchy I had to giggle. Tourists always freak put over how big our bike parking is by the train stations XD

[@tobieeck9676]

Exactly it just shows how little they know

[@dennisengelen2517]

As a Flemish guy I really hope our incompetent government will incorperate those big 'stackable' bike parkings now that our leftist goverbnment wants to make everything more green thus taking away parking space for the greenery thus making you pay for the fewer parking spaces we'll have where before you could stand 2h for free with a blue parking disc.

[@tobieeck9676]

​@@dennisengelen2517 In Gent Dampoort we have stackable bike parkings, only downside is, that you can't secure your bicycle as well. Also better and more efficient parking structures would be nice with a good connection to public transport would improve it a lot. But I do agree that we need better, safer (, and more) parking spaces for bicycles. Instead of them cluttering sidewalks and thus making them less safe. Even though I am neutral on the political spectrum and am more left leaning in what I vote, I can understand your frustration, and think parking should be much better, easier and cheaper with cars. But in my opinion it should be done in such a way that we don't have to see the cars parked everywhere, instead proper underground parkings everywhere. I hate seeing plazas full of cars. Instead of being angry at each other, we should think about how we can compromise and find a solution for us both. I don't think it's as much the government being leftist, as it probably is that the EU is putting pressure on countries to do these things, and Belgium does not want to be left behind .

[@may51973]

You live on a bike! My daughter is moving to The Netherlands and the number of bikes always gets me.

[@nevrunderstandlada]

I live at Nice in France and the place for people like at 10:28 there is a lot of this and you really can't go with your car in bc if police catch you doing this he can take your driving license, make you pay between 130-750euro and sometimes take your car

hi, dutchie here. we have a very dense railnetwork were in a lot of routes there are trains leaving about every fifteen minutes (to the same destination). virtually every trainstation is also a busstop, making it very easy to take the bus to the trainstation. and if you have ever seen the photo's of our bike-parking spaces, they are not photoshopped, and biking is indeed very popular here, so that is also a way to get there. some people take their car to the trainstation, simply because parking in some of the larger (and older) cities is not only difficult, ,but also more expensive than taking the train. it probably helps that the Netherlands are one of the most densely populated countries, everything is pretty close together.

[@penaarja]

Loved railroad on Netherland❤️ almost second time accurancy

[@cheebadigga4092]

I envy you dutchies for all your infrastructure. Roads, especially highway roads, bike lanes, bike parking stations, signal coverage. You got it all! Much respect from Germany for getting stuff done and done correctly, for the people. For us Germans it's pretty normal to have construction work done on the Autobahn for no freaking reason. I always thought it was a joke that a state, city, or the country itself just throws money away for construction work because they have too much money left for that year. Until I realized it is not a joke but a reality here.

[@lizeglassee8454]

where i live, there are parking spots for bikes by the stations but you can also take it with you on the train. my dad goes by foldable bike and train to work almost every day and i study in the city and take the train back and forth each week

[@CabinFever52]

😁 Just last year (maybe the year before), they put a large, well-lit, covered bike parking lot next to the ministerium here in Vienna. It's pretty nice.

[@jar-jarnotbinks7685]

9:00 i'll tell you the exact implications : People rather not own a car they can't park anywhere. As for I, live on a small island, under UE laws, with barely any public transportation, and we pay our car and gas with the UE premium, despite being a necessity to even move around. There's also that.

[@petertrabaris1629]

That was both interesting and very depressing for me as a citizen of the U.S. I knew that we were behind Europe in this regard, but did not realize how far apart we were in efficient transportation. Like you, Ryan, I was horrified to learn that there is a greater emphasis on parking, than housing. When I heard that, my first thought was: Well, that explains our growing problem with homelessness. I think this proves to a point what I have come to believe, that the U.S., being so determinedly capitalistic, does mean that those with financial wealth do get the most effective lives, and those who have less and those at the bottom of the economic ladder truly do get the least, and our planning insures that. How sad its that? The sad thing to me is understanding that we could provide access and full participation in society at all levels, but we choose not to. Individual wealth is more important than societal health it appears.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

step 1: make a tight public transport network as viable alternatives to cars step 2: with less demand to do every trip by car, reduce parking spaces step 3: turn parking spaces into affordable houses and local businesses. (It isn't uncommon to have multi storey apartment buildings with small businesses on the ground floor in Europe) As good example, there is a big box store here (Used to be Werkauf, was part of Walmart when they tried and failed to enter the market) and is now part of Edeka) that has a bus that connects it to the tram nearby. It's a bus that only runs through business hours and only has two stops (the store and the tram) but it connects the store to the wider network across the industrial park and autobahn that are in between. Imagine if you had a bus just to connect the local Walmart to the (comfortable and fast) tram that goes along the next big road. Why go by car if you can cross the parking lot without any work of your own.

[@brandondavis7777]

@@HappyBeezerStudios Step 1. Remember Europea nations are tiny as fuck and irrelevant. 2. Remember step 1 3. Nobody wants that near their houses, noise and pollution are terrible.

[@Labyrinth6000]

Here we go again, Europe good, America bad. Also Living in metro cities good, while living in rural area or the suburbs bad yet again. Nothing but a bunch of angry, envious people coping.

[@blakemccann445]

@@ApricusInaros "The US on the other hand outshines Europe in other aspects of the daily life" Eh, not really. Not in anything that matters at least.

[@blakemccann445]

@@ApricusInaros Well name one then.

[@shadowmaster335]

idk in other countries, but in denmark, we usually get "parking complexes" where they just add layer upon layer of parking spots, and they usually sit in centralized locations so we have minimal walking time from parking to a wide range of stores

[@Mojave_NCR]

I couldn't help but respond to what you said about the fact that no parking appeared in the images, that is because in Europe (or at least in Spain) we make underground parking lots in order to be able to build a residential building, shops, restaurants... at the top

[@lul2thec]

As a Swiss I often drive my car to the trainstation when skiing to prevent the traffic jam down the mountain at the end of the day. There is lots of „park + ride“ options close to big cities as well, as parking is a nightmare. The bike you just lock in the bike parking. 😅

[@martinbernert3317]

Yes, particulary in rural or suburban areas of europe commuters are using their cars to go the first miles to the train station. There they have large parking lots to leave the cars, and the people are using public transport to reach their offices/factories in town. We call it park & ride. The newest development is to build bycicle garages and electric car rentals at the suburbn train stations to give the people an alternative for the first/last miles.

[@giuly8jojo]

we can also bring the bikes on the train!! that's really useful (he was confused ab that lmao)

[@vicschouten4933]

7:00 we have a big space for bikes that will also (most of the time) be guarded. so in every station there will be like 200 spaces for bikes and it made super efficient so it doesnt take much space at all 10:00 they will be most of the time vertically. ( so mostly underground).

[@dnkyhntr]

Normally you take the bus from near your house to the next trainstation if it to far away to walk or ride a bike.... Most EU trainstations got something like a secured bike parking lot.

[@nynkestellema2641]

The guy from Not Just Bikes explaines it really well. Since road need major maintenance every 25 years it gives the city the option to redesign the road. City planners can make different choices to include bicycle lanes that are seperate from the roads. Add mixed zoning laws and you wouldn''t need to drive 10 miles to the grocery store. I live in a small town and i have four grocery stores within half a mile. Don't need a car just to buy food.

[@ICEtotio]

6:55 in most cities of germany we got a building next to the trainstation only for our bikes

[@icepeakengineer1702]

It is worth mentioning that Germany is kind of different from rest of the Europe. They don't have that big cities, more like lots of medium sized cities with sourounding suburbs looking like small villages. Motorway system called AutoBahn is fantastic and THERE ARE NO SPEED LIMITS. When german person says that his job is 40 minutes away it actually may be 60 miles away because once on motorway it is pedal to the metal. Great fun for car driving.

[@winfriedantretter7810]

Well, not all of the Autobahn is without speedlimit. Most of all there is one. And nowadays there is a discussion about having a general speedlimit, what is highly needed.

[@verttijineu2776]

French HST : TGV Paris-Bordeaux, travel on Tuesday January 31, departure Paris 9:11 am - arrival Bordeaux 11:14 am, journey time 2h03mn for a 630 km long travel, priced at 22euros.

[@PPedroFernandes]

11:08 the fact that he's surprised to see just people walking on not a road, inside of a city, is just... mind blowing

[@stivie1749]

Im from austria, i live in Vienna. We own 1 Car for 2 people, but use it maybe once a month. We used to live in the Countryside too where we both needed a car on a daily basis, because there was only 1 train and 1 bus (the bus came only at 6am and in the evening, in 4 years living there i havent seen that bus even once) So yes.. you still need a car when you live in the countryside. but the nearer you are to the city the better the public transortation becomes.

[@lexmole]

I've lived in the countryside of Germany and never had a car. Well, my bus came once per hour, on weekends every other hour. Next supermarket was around 3 km away. And I managed it. There are very rare exceptions where one really can't live without cars. But usually people just say that they "need" a car because they are not willing to adjust themselves to a life without car.

[@darrellpowell6042]

4:43 This is an mistake in the OG. When you see this graphic he says the EU isn't on that list, correct BUT Then says European countries are NOT on that list BUT Russia and Ukraine are part of Europe.

[@rand0m878]

Istanbul turkey too

[@erisch126]

You walk to the bus stop (usually not more than 5 minutes in almost all towns and villages) you ride the bus to the trainstation (usually not more than 10 minutes) Then you can use the train to go to almost any city in your country (1-6 hours, in germany at least) But still. In more rural areas in germany you still need a car, but guess what: The traffic density is low enough that there is no congestion. (We still have a lot of problems with trains, don´t get me wrong, but it´s nothing compared to US)

[@schtreg9140]

You actually immediately picked up on the main issue that American urban planning makes public transportation really hard to implement successfully. I'm kinda impressed lol.

[@MrMezmerized]

The strict zoning laws are stupid for a bunch of reasons. Aside from the obvious ones related to car dependency, it's not good for kids' social lives and excersise, nor social (class) blending. And the US pretends to be very friendly to small businesses, but they're not allowed in those huge zones. And if they were, you'd need a bunch of parking spaces, because the suburbs are so sprawling you can't walk or ride a bike. Everything is just so stupidly stupid, all to push car use (and fuel) and social /class segregation.

[@natchu96]

@@MrMezmerized Even if the small businesses are set up, they have the desert of parking space around them to match, and the distance from residential areas (and the fact that all the streets are built like high-capacity roads for driving down fast) mean that people will probably drive past you anyway unless they already knew what you were before approaching your (hopefully huge by necessity) sign.

[@MrMezmerized]

@@natchu96 I was thinking of small businesses within residential areas, or at the edge. Access pretty good and enough people living in the area. But you still have the disadvantage of suburbs being so spread out, and people wanting to drive, even if they could go by bike. The US needs to revert to more mixed zoning with houses, small appartment buildings and small businesses. But I think a lot of people will want to keep the segregation, even though mixing things up a bit will make a more vibrant and connected community.

[@weronika9327]

Also huge amount of parking spaces are hidden bellow houses (this is the case mostly for cities) or near malls there are parkings with 2-3 stories, they take smaller space in city but hold a lot of parking spaces

[@monsteryuu9444]

I live in sweden and public transport is really well designed.... I have four bus stations near me that are closer than 100m to where I live, using them can get to the train station within 10 minutes, and it's the same ticket that works for trains, buses, subway and even some boats, so I can go from my home, with a bus to closest train station and then with train to closest subway to ride a subway to Stockholm on the same ticket!

[@catstone]

You should consider doing streams, so that you can have people talk about or correct what is being said in the videos you react to!

[@chrissiesbuchcocktail]

That would be great!

[@Weltenbummlerin.]

I totally agree.

[@jgowner6076]

For the statistics on bikes, the Netherlands, the home of a huge load of bikes, has 17.5 million citizens and 23+ million bikes. Due to high safety standards in its infrastructure, people find it a really good alternative to cycle to work, friends, family, grocery shops etc. It also helps that shops/restaurants are allowed in residential areas, so you can find a grocery store every 3km in rural areas at the least.

[@floraflowers]

As an East European, I heard about the inside joke in Denmark and the Netherlands that if you didn't have a bike as a kid, you were probably neglected by your parents. I mean, it puts into perspective just how common cycling is.

[@may51973]

My daughter is moving to The Netherlands and we already provide a bike

[@FalcoGer]

6:55 you can leave the bike at the train station or you can take it along with you in most of the regional trains. They make some room near the doors for bikes to be stored.

[@andreaarhelger8622]

I lived in Hamburg for about 20 years and most of them I didn't own a car, but then I increasingly felt a need to be in nature and by the seaside, so the last 4 years living in Hamburg I had a car, but only used it on the weekends to get out of the city. Now I live at the Baltic Sea in a very beautiful but remote spot. It would be impossible to live here without a car. What I really wanted to say is, even in Europe it depends pretty much on where you live...

[@silesian_hussar]

7:03 in Poland trains have one carriage where you can leave your bike next to the doors

[@alinadornieden8411]

americans probably never heard of a bike part in the train :D

[@brunateles9808]

I'm from Porto in Portugal, and I can tell you that within a 10 min walk from my house I have 7 bakeries, 3 grocery stores, 4 supermarkets, 2 gyms, a subway station, 3 gas stations, 4 pharmacies, health center, dentist, vet, kindergarten, 2 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, high school, and I have 2 bus stops not 50 meters from my house. Within a 20 min walk the number of each probably doubles, and adds to it a pretty big mall. I can get everything I need on a daily basis without any type of transport. And to get to uni I take the bus right in front of my house, which takes approximately 20 minutes to get there. All of this, and I don't even live in the centre of the city of Porto, which also isn't the capital city (sad as it may be, because it should), I live in the outskirts

[@flol.1741]

4:33 That map of Europe's roads is ridiculous.

[@viciousyeen6644]

Yes it’s wrong just just like that train map at the start. Totally simplified down to just the main lines and roads, as if they’re the only ones

[@DanInMUC]

It depends on where in Europe you live though. I come from a small town in southern Italy and driving a car is essential, as public transport, although it exists, is completely unreliable. I used to live very close to the city center, so I was lucky enough everything I needed was at walking distance, but my office was in the suburbs and man was it hell driving to and from, and finding a parking space was just a nightmare. Five years ago I moved to Munich, and my perspective completely changed. Public transport is very well developed, works efficiently and is reliable, you can easily reach any area of the city. It's expensive, I'll give you that, but nothing compared to the costs that owning a car entails. I only own a bike here, and even though I miss driving a car, I don't miss one at all. I just don't need it.

[@Phalaenopsisify]

You can absolutely run a train track trough a city without it being annoying. The trains can be undeground or simply so quiet they don't bother anyone. There are footbridges or underpasses to go from one side to another. It's no problem at all :)

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Or, they can slow down a bit in city limits so there is not as much noise. Not even needed to place new tracks or buy new trains. Just take it easy.

[@IMOVEOVERI]

The Europe being bigger part was hilarious 😂😂😂 keep the videos coming, you seem like a genuine cool guy 😁

[@jz8734]

Thanks for the video!! I’m from Spain and I think that the main difference between Europe and the US is that European population is more highly packed in cities and towns of all sizes. Meaning that many small villages in my region (Navarre) may have a health center and a primary school and grocery stores, even small ones. In some villages even the doctor, the priest and even the baker truck will get to the village so elder people no need to move. My priest, for instance will spend most of Sunday morning driving from village to village. Thanks again 👍👍

[@007linkstar]

Navarra is one of the best regions in Spain in terms of quality of life too!

[@pedronm]

Regarding 6:20 yes, we do drive to the train station! And even if we didn't, at least in Portugal buses take you from a place near the cities to the terminal, which is near a train station

[@sampeeps3371]

Holland has a crazy amount of bikes.

[@I_Evo]

But interestingly still has more motor vehicles per capita than the UK.

[@boothy201]

That's because it's so flat. If you live up on the moors or in Switzerland you have to be pretty darned fit to get around on a bike.

[@steddie4514]

You should visit Copenhagen!

[@I_Evo]

@@steddie4514 Capital of another of Europe's flattest countries.

[@voyance4elle]

6:16 😂😂😂😂 this is someone truely not understanding public transportation! Obviously there are bus stops, trams, undergrounds and so on everywhere to take you anywhere.

[@niico3_]

I am 20 years old and I have never driven, I have always been able to go anywhere by public transport, one of the things I like most about being European is that

[@lptimey]

10:44 both on bikes and healthy people: The is a great channel that’s called not just bikes, which is a channel focused on the differences of street and general city design. It is run by someone who is originally from London Canada. You should really check him out.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

London, Canada. aka fake London :D

[@dnkyhntr]

9:55 thats Amsterdam..its a bike City.. its easier and cheaper to drive a car on the moon.😆

[@bernoldsann3963]

For where to put the bike: we got a "bike-station" at the station. Just a small building where you can lock your bike. In other cities there are Bike-Parks, which work like automated car parks. Usually there's some space dedicated for bike parking and a lot of stations also have parking lots for about up to 100 vehicles.

[@msr2289]

Very good video but there are way more both streets and roads in Europe than showed on the maps Love your reactions though!

[@Thurgosh_OG]

They even missed the rail line that goes all the way to the top of Scotland?; making it look like the Highlands had no railways.

[@davidleo8830]

Check out the vids of "Not just bikes" he perfectly talks about the differences between NA cities and European ones - also about the Bike-Train combo you wondered about!

[@davidleo8830]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4bbdJWjiZ6Yos0

[@MichaelGroenendijk]

Usa: I go to the supermarked. Getting in car 15 minute drive to a mega supermarket. Europe: wich supermarket shall i go? there are 5 nearby😋

[@smaragdwolf1]

1. Yes, many people in Europe own a Car, but far less than the US. You can use your Car to drive to a Trainstation and park it there to continue with a Train, if there is a P&R (Park & Ride) area. 2. If you use a Bike to reach a Trainstation (and you have a ticket for the Bike), you can take it into the Train. There is often an area to place it. 3. Unless you life in Village, public transportation is more or less tightly woven. Busses, Trams, Trains, Subways. But even in the smallest Village, you will find atleast one Busstop. Their schedule isnt good (why sending a Bus to a small village every 30 min, if there arent enough people to use it that often?), maybe 3-4 times a day, but thats still better than having no public transportation. Its complicated. People who move to a village have a Car, partially because there is no good public transportation. But this means it doesn't pay off to schedule more Busses to that Village, since so many people have a Car. I tried to get a license^^ That was over 15 years ago. The times i would have really needed a car so far is not even 2 digits.

[@spectralspectra2282]

5:53 (Just take a bus to the train station)

[@Lapituu]

6:15 "do you ever drive [a car] to the train station?" Yes actually! Last year I went on a concert with my mother and since we live in a small town my mom drove us to a bigger city in order to go on a train straight to our destination instead of having to change the train a couple of times

[@catherinewilkins2760]

The train station has car parking and some have, secure places for bike's.

[@cieslik7564]

Like evey block apartment has special space for bikes.

[@JoanaRaacke]

6:58 you can take your bike on the train/bus but you have to pay a littke extra (on bus +1€)

[@JoannaHammond]

America's biggest issue is its zoning system. If you allowed mixed zoning you would not need to drive 10 miles to find a grocery store.

[@joannajaworska0000]

I saw a great video about zoning on The Black forest family channel, Ashton who is an architect, compared the structure of an American city and a European one. It is mind blowing that one cannot open a shop/grocery/bakery or a restaurant in a residential area in the USA. Locating big shopping malls or supermarkets on the outskirts is ok for me, since they require a huge parking lots, but some small local shops and cafes are perfect for a community/housings estate.

[@JoannaHammond]

@@joannajaworska0000 I think I may have seen that video, enjoyable to watch.

[@SWLinPHX]

Yes, but zoning laws also preserve aesthetics and beautiful suburbs. Not everyone wants to live in an urban environment with houses mixed with businesses. I guess it’s just what you prefer and are used to.

[@joannajaworska0000]

@@SWLinPHX Have you ever been to a European town with a suburban housing estate or a village? I live in Germany and there are beautiful local communities with small shops (grocery and a bakery or a butcher) and a cafe. Sometimes the estates are created with a central square. I am not taking about huge malls, but basic amenities within a walking distance, homes surrounded by greenery, with bike lanes and pavements. There is a great English tv show "Escape to the country", one can see how these communities work.

[@SWLinPHX]

@@joannajaworska0000 Yes, I lived in Europe and am aware of that. I was talking about urban environments with shops on top of apartments. There are plenty of suburbs that may have large big box stores (which, for better or worse, are the monopolies and biggest draw in the U.S.) along the freeways or near suburbs, but not in them.

[@sedmidivka]

You need come here to understand it it seems :D I mean it's no heaven here or anything but it is nice to see something different. I was in Japan and I will never forget how it was to experience such a different culture it was amazing. I've been to other countries and continents and it was always worth it, I understand some people just don't like travelling but for me I really love it

[@cristiuup2101]

to get to the train station you can either: 1. take a bus 2. take the tram 3. take the metro 4. ride your bike there 5. walk (if you're close enough) 6. get a taxi, so many otpions and none require you to drive

[@s.h.741]

You might enjoy the channel Not Just Bikes where you can learn a lot about the Dutch strategies of making bikes and public transportation insanely attractive, and how this raises the quality of life for everybody. In the Netherlands, there are huge huge bike parking lots everywhere, especially around train stations. Watching it just makes me want to jump on my bike. Germany is not on that level, far from it.

[@korootz]

Well, German cities are much more extensive while Dutch are more condensed. Commuting through cities even with a decent public transport can sometimes take one hour, much more so with a bike, so no one is gonna bother cycling when everything is so far.

[@101steel4]

When my cousin first moved from England to florida, he couldn't believe that nobody walked anywhere. Literally nobody lol. Where he lives they even drive to their postboxes at the end on their road. They live a 5 minute walk from his stepsons school, but his mum still drives him there everyday 😒

[@dasophie1]

Soul crushing