American Reacts to Why Europe Is Insanely Well Designed

[@kaninma7237]

I moved to Central Europe three years ago, and I do not have a car. I will not get one. I walk or use public transportation to go wherever I want. Mostly I walk, and I get plenty of exercise. I do not gain weight regardless of how much beer or food I consume. I love it!

[@B.R.0101]

Awesome!

[@stromundspiele670]

You are lucky to live in a bigger city, or not in Germany, I life in a 6000 people town. The only puplic transportation is the school bus and a little train station, at least the train is in the right direction to get to work, but in the early shift I would get at least 1 houer to late to work and in the late shift my work ends 1 hours after the last train

[@Illuminat-ve5ue]

@@stromundspiele670 extremely rural area, i feel you. Busses only come every 30mins to an hour

[@mikahist4155]

Yeah- I reguse to get a car in vienna,austria, because all 50m theres a Tram, bus, underground, fast-train, train, -all for a 2million city..

[@Nobodyfromnowhere42]

Europe is insanely well designed for humans , not so much for cars , most of our cities were build before wide cars were available so our cities are built for traveling on foot on them , where i live the roads are all twisty and narrow ,parralel roads are basically non existant , but i can buy everything i want with 5 mins of walking

[@jessmarks2214]

Yes well aware of the Teutonic Ubermensch arrogance... the Allies stopped Carpetbombing way too early

[@schwartzy65]

most us cities were also built for walking and horses before the car boom and they destroyed everything for cars...

[@reeno1357]

Yeah, ever tried to park your car in berlin ? If not i wish you good luck finding a free space if you ever try too cause you wont. You are speakin straight facts.

[@Torsteen-p3d]

Driving in European cities is absolute hell 90% of the time. But then again, it's a lot nicer to walk because the buildings and parks etc. are usually really, really beautiful.

[@jessmarks2214]

@@reeno1357 well from memory not much was left of Berlin, separated into zones of occupation, the Eastern Control Zone? Welll ownership of cars and provision of parking wasnt a priority.... and Berlin isn't the centre of excellence, design and planning... for most countries outside asia and Europe? Road networks are the most efficient and reliable form of transport.... and creates a concept of individual capacity to travel, explore, act independently and create new communities and opportunities... whereas Europe is currently replaying the Leibensrum doctrine... this time Energy Security, replaces Ukrainian farm, grain, agricultural production needs that provided excuses for Teutonic aggression... risk of Russian aggression in Europe? Any bombs falling on Berlin, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Vienna?... so basically it ethnic Ukrainians and Russians suffering from NATO and US militarisatism... Do you want Ukraine in NATO?

[@thomask8011]

Even if we complain a lot about our public transportation, I have to say as someone who lives in Aachen, Germany, I can reach 3 European capitals by train in such short time. Paris under 3h Brussels under 2h Amsterdam around 4h Me and my family went to London for 5 days once by train aswell and it all went pretty good aswell

[@paul1979uk2000]

I think us Europeans love to complain about everything lol, but honestly, I think it's part of that complaining and protesting why we Europeans have it so good, we tend to be more willing to stand up and make governments listen to our voices compared to the US or the UK.

[@seethe42]

You can reach NYC, Boston, DC, Philadelphia all within a few hours of each other by train or 4-5 hours by bus any day of the week several times day/night. All major metropolitan cities in different states. There are people that commute using public transport between DC, NYC and Boston 400-450km daily. Your example isn't really all that impressive.

[@jonathanodude6660]

@@seethe42 you specifically bring up the single region in north america with actually good intercity rail? what about if you were in the west, or the south, or literally anywhere other than the northeast? remember that this system is in the whole of the EU, and expanding. from lisbon to london and prague to helsinki, pretty much every major city links to a regional hub which has a high speed link to several other countries.

[@MikeB4pl]

@@jonathanodude6660 Well to be honest first author gave also specific region of Europe. Europe have same problem and not everything in Europe is EU -- you can choose less densly populated region in the middle of Russia and compare with with northeast :D .... remember also Europe average population per 1 sq km and compare it to US. What is very interesting in this map is Railway connection of UK with mainland Europe with 2 ??? tunnels ? and connection of Ireland with England :D did not know such things exist :P

[@rohanstormbanks7601]

Channel Tunnel

[@fistofthenorthstar3155]

I'm living 54km from Oslo, Norway. My working place is 62km from the place I live. Every morning I use public transport (bus and train). I can reach my working place in 52min- 1 hour. And I need to walk only 200m for all that time. No need to drive in the morning; I'm taking a nap on a train. I'm fresh every day. Viva la public transport!

[@Nifilheimur]

I live some 20km from Oslo center and commute every day in a car as its my work car. I would definitely prefer to sit on the train than being stuck on ring 3 during rush hour:p

[@thefirstkingdogo1126]

That's very good, i have to drive 1 hour. I'am riding a bike In the sun shine and it hase the same affect as a morning walk. Its about 10 km

[@MrOpik-ot5uj]

I am sorry for you!

[@CJMattias]

Holy shit 14 hours in publuc transport every week, what a waste of time and money tbh. 😅

[@fistofthenorthstar3155]

@@CJMattias 14 hours? How many days do you work? We work 5 days per week, 7.5 hours a day. And 50% of the time, I can do the job from a home office, so I do not need to travel.

[@verttikoo2052]

Long time ago US Ambassador in Finland was surprised to see the richest man in the Finland in the same tram in Helsinki as he was.

[@Real_MisterSir]

The recent US ambassador in Denmark was surprised to realize her private chauffeur generally took his bicycle to commute to/from work. She genuinely said that she believed most Danes couldn't afford cars and that's why we always use bicycles instead. She said this to Fox News I believe. Literally told so many lies on public US tv about our country 🤣 She's always been a shit ambassador, put in place by the former Trump administration to replace the former ambassador who was a great guy and a friend of the Danish people. The Trump instated woman who calls herself ambassador is nothing but a tourist who got chauffeured around for 3 years and never cared to actually learn about the country. Thank god she isn't staying.

[@overlordover114]

@@Real_MisterSir ignorance is a power

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

In europe in general rich people use public transport and poor people use cars. Rich people usually live in the city that's why it is so freakin expensive,, poorer people are forced to live in the subburbs and are more car dependend. The exact opposite of the usa where public transport is asociated with the poorest in society.

[@verttikoo2052]

@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 That is not correct. In Finland you don’t need a car. I was 30 years old when I finally got a driving license and it was because of the work. Not getting there but using it to time to in the work. I have always had my bike to go around or the public transport. Easy and fast.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

@@verttikoo2052 never said you need a car, you can get by without if you have to anywhere in europe. I just said that people are generally more car dependend.

[@nightfly4664]

You should give the channel NotJustBikes a try. It mostly focuses on the Netherlands, but it goes much more in-depth on why America is designed the way it is.

[@DrJams]

Nah that channel with have you waiting for the bus being timetable dependant living in a tiny apartment

[@eleo_b]

@@DrJams I think the channel would say to get your bicycle out, rather than take the bus!

[@Herobox-ju4zd]

I'm from the Netherlands where you can go basically anywhere anytime with public transport and I was even frustrated in Spain where you hadn't that many options to even travel from city to city by train. I couldn't imagine how bad things would be in the US.

[@diablo.the.cheater]

WDYM? Spain is very good connected by train. You can go to even random villages by trains

[@Herobox-ju4zd]

@@diablo.the.cheater Not like the Netherlands but it's an unfair comparison because of the size difference.

[@Gione_Bobeldijk]

Spanje is de laatste jaren sterk verbeterd mbt openbaar vervoer, vergeet niet dat Nederland zich na de 2e wereld oorlog aan hun infrastructuur heeft kunnen werken en Spanje pas na de dictatuur, ruim 30 jaar later. Dus daarom loopt het land iets achter. Heb er jaren gewoond en Spanje loopt nog steeds achter qua sommige dingen. Maar dat is Europa. Hetzelfde geldt de laatste jaren voor de Oostblok landen die bij Europa komen, zij hebben ook een inhaalslag te doen voor verschillende dingen qua infrastructuur etc.

[@abepl]

I've been in NL as a tourist plenty of times and I freaking love their public transportation, moving between cities is so EZ using trains. It almost feels like NL is one city.

[@ck8899]

Prices are insane nowadays

[@kallisto_ofzo]

I agree. But still most of the people complain about public transportation here (in the Netherlands) 😂

[@leanderbuijtendijk6241]

I'm born and raised in the Netherlands and am very grateful for our biking infrastructure. Because of a handicap I can't drive and would have a big problem if only cars would be an option.

[@yellfire]

The west coast area is called 'Randstad' (Rand=edge, Stad=city) which is the agglomeration of the major cities in the Netherlands like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. On a national scale it is considered as one big city. On a global scale it is comparible to NY and LA with 8.3 million residents.

[@verloser]

Least you can use your ov card on all transport

[@Real_MisterSir]

Something that also isn't highlighted in these public transit maps, is the regular speed railways, which are interconnecting all smaller towns in most European countries. These maps used in the video only highlight the main lines, like capitol to capitol etc. But take Copenhagen as an example, the city I live in. Just from here we have multiple metro lines, a light train line that functions within the city perimeter itself above-ground, and then multiple intercity trains that connect all the northern, southern, and western parts of the country AS WELL AS Sweden on the Eastern border (connected via bridge/tunnel). Then in conjunction, the bus network also spans across every single train station, and pretty much all streets in all towns. And you pay for all public transit with the same tickets/travel card across the country - so that swapping from train to a bus won't cost you extra nor create any further user experience barriers. It all connects seamlessly. So realistically you don't need a car to go anywhere, there will always be a public transit option that will take you within 1-5 minutes of max walking distance from your destination, no matter how isolated it may be. This means the car is a choice, not a must. And having more choices means more freedom, and more adaptive way of commuting. If I want to go visit a friend across the city, I can take a train, or a bus, or my bicycle, or my motorcycle - and they will all get me there within 20-30 minutes max. So if the weather is nice, I'll grab the bicycle. If I am in a rush I will grab the motorcycle. If the weather isn't great I'll take bus or metro. I don't feel forced into either option, which is honestly such a luxury compared to when I visit my family in the US. If you don't have a car, you're generally just stuck in place if you don't live in downtown of a major metropolitan city.

[@DaRealDevoly]

In Germany for Example: Drivers License: 1500-3000€ (depends on how much Driving Lessons u take) Insurance and Taxes: roughly 1000€ per year Fuel: 2€ per Litre (1/4 of a Gallon) New "Up to Date" Mid range car: 25000-50000€

[@polskitygrys4951]

Last time I checked it was like 3 euro / about 4 zł

[@MrToradragon]

Basically government robbing citizens and hampering economic growth.

[@polskitygrys4951]

@@MrToradragon no. They trying to make peaple not dependent on cars so that we also use bhsses trains abysicles and walk. Unlike in the us

[@hyzenthlay7151]

It's not just work commuting and things like that. Even day to day life. In the US people usually drive out to the big commercial areas just to do their grocery shopping. Meanwhile, I live in a small town in Spain and I have 5 large chain supermarkets in walking distance, plus once a week a street market, kind of like your farmer's markets, but for food, clothes, everything. I have a car because I have mobility issues, but if it weren't for that I wouldn't need it. In fact, I only use the car a couple of times a week.

[@MrSolLeks]

The question is, are you in an apartment or house? Where i used to live growing up the closet buisness was over a mile, where i live now its .2 miles away... im less than an hour by highway to get to my parents house... there are a huge varity of places in america that these types of videos always ignore... its almost like a lot of these "I hate cars" video makers dont live in the us and have no idea what they are talkin bout.... i mean shoot im in chicago like this channel's owner is, im not sure why he seems to think this vid is right lol...

[@Traumglanz]

@@MrSolLeks Does that really matter? I grow up in an area in Rhein/Main with mostly single family homes, just a few apartment buildings here and there in town. We still had 3 super markets within a 3 minute walk. The shops simply can be where the people are, no matter if it's apartments or single or double houses. Imagine not being able to just get out for a pint with friends without a car and 10 minute drive? That would suck really hard. ;-)

[@Klittle010]

A dutchie here. Bikes are awesome, the weather isn't! so not always that comfortable.

[@teotik8071]

It is as you said. Not needing to use the car on a daily base makes it very pleasant (most times) to drive for fun.

[@martontruszek9464]

Yeah, I can relate to this. I'm a university student in a smaller city in Hungary (around 200k citizen), and the public transport is excellent. I have buses from the dorm to the university around 15 minutes apart, and there are bicycle-lanes everywhere. There are trams, buses and trolleys (electric buses with a pantographs) to all big shopping centres. In the 3 years I studied here, I haven't got the need for a car in the city. About the borders: my girlfriend lives in Slovakia, we can go to eachother whenever we want, there is little to no border patrol, and even if it were, only the ID is needed.

[@Pyrochemik007]

trolley is just another word for tram, they used to use trolley for power, instead of pantograph. Trolleybus is what you mean.

[@andrasszollosy4418]

Szegeden laksz? :)

[@rami092]

@@andrasszollosy4418 szerintem inkább Debrecen lesz az abból kiindulva amit leirt :)

[@Robalogot]

I'm a big car guy, but I don't use my car for daily commute. As someone who lived in both the US (TX and NC) the major problem isn't necessarily public transport, it's more how far you have to travel to get your daily needs fulfilled. I can walk to a small grocery store, I can walk to several restaurants, I can walk to a small park, I can walk to the gym, I can walk to a bar... And every two weeks or so I use my car to go to the bigger stores to get my heavy, bulky products I can't take on foot or by bicycle. When I was living in Austin people were complaining about the traffic, same with the people in LA, but Americans have no idea how much worse traffic can get, at the moment a lot is masked by spreading things out, and if I had to guess using maybe a 3-4 times less efficient use of space. It's so frustrating because the US still has so much amazing nature, but at this rate you'll chew through it ruining it with stripmalls.

[@kamukameh]

I've seen in another video that most of US isn't "walkable", because there are simply no walking lanes on most of the streets, THAT is what shocks me the most. So there aren't small, walkable shops in the core settlements but huge malls with even huger parking spaces on the edge of the settlements. I am now 33 and live in Austria, I never owned a car.

[@se7enhaender]

You wouldn't even need public transportation in a lot of cases to replace a car, but U.S. zoning laws prevent mixed zones (residential/commercial) or multi-story homes in residential areas (with multiple apartments/families per home) in a lot of cases, so you can't just take a 5 minute walk to get some groceries or meet a friend at a cafe like we can in our convenient mixed zones, which are also more densely populated than suburbs. (Industry is usually still sectioned off more so than commercial)

[@Koen030NL]

I think it basically had to do with company’s running the US. Car manufacturers obviously played a huge part in getting rid of public transportation and the facilitation of space for cars. And on top of that zoning plans were created that forced people to travel to get to work/school/shops.

[@Čangrizavi_Cinik]

In normal countries you go to buy groceries by feet.

[@glennhibben7757]

@@Čangrizavi_Cinik Normal?

[@volkhardhenschel1863]

@@glennhibben7757 yes, normal countries with normal people with normal feet with which they can walk 😃😃😃

[@DrJams]

Cars are better than waiting for busses and looking at timetables

[@volkhardhenschel1863]

@@DrJams poor boy... In Europe during rush hours trams, buses, undergrounds are takted 4 to 7 minutes. If you really wish to look up timetables meanwhile 2 or 3 Public transports are disappeared.

[@pavelholub8668]

Many large cities in europe straight out ban cars for entry to city center, with this in mind they built large parking buildings so people leave their cars on the outskirts of the city and continue by metro or tram

[@Lightkie]

9:23 Regarding your rant about parking lots: I've heard a funny quote about the developers of the computer game SimCity, who, when designing the game, decided at an early stage to not even include parking space because it would just turn into a parking space manager. 😄

[@adriantippins3605]

Public transport in the UK is pretty good and especially so in London. Another thing that is very expensive in the UK is Parking. Parking in Brighton which is on the South Coast of UK can cost $45.00 per day! London also has a congestion charge where you have to pay $17.00 a day to drive in it. London is also a ULEZ zone (Ultra Low Emission Zone). If you have an older car with non modern emissions you will need to pay $15.00 ULEZ charge on top of the £17.00 congestion charge. Add that to the sky high parking and astronomical fuel cost, it's best to leave the car at home.

[@wizardflaps]

Love your positive outlook dude, keep it up

[@fugawiaus]

The main difference he didn’t add in the video was housing and living density. On my visit to Munich from Australia, the big thing that struck me was everybody lives in apartments or what Aussie’s call terrace housing. There didn’t seem to be any suburban housing. Australia and the US have a lot more space and most live in the suburbs. Due to the distances it is silly to “ride a bike” 30 klm to work. From your house you walk to a bus stop, get a bus to the station then a train to the city. From there you walk to a tram then from the tram to work. Still slightly cheaper but a car can be more reliable and comfortable. Both the US and Australia are “newer” countries with more room to build and more spread out less dense suburban cities meaning a different perspective to public transport.

[@paul1979uk2000]

That's partly true but I think the main problem, especially in the US is that housing and business complex tend to have their own zones and tend to be far away from each other which means you need a car just for the basics. That isn't the case in Europe, housing and business are sprinkled all around us with easy access to them. I don't see any real reason why the same couldn't be done in the US if they change the zoning rules as that is where the real problem is.

[@fugawiaus]

@@paul1979uk2000 in the Sydney area in Australia (where I live) businesses have been de-centralised to have a minimum of traffic into the CBD. Manufacturing is spread all over the whole area. This stops heavy traffic into a single area and allows workers to live nearby. We have suburban areas with single occupancy houses on larger land making up the vast majority of our cities. Aussies don’t like apartment living in general, we’re more outdoor people. We need our space and we have it in spades. Europe is different. It is much older, the streets are thinner, the CBD is larger and the only expansion is up. Different designs from different times in history. Europe is centralised and relies heavily on public transport. Australia is de-centralised relying on personal transport. Two ways of dealing with similar problems. Both have their flaws and advantages. Europes system doesn’t work in Australia and our system doesn’t work in Europe.

[@seethe42]

@@fugawiaus Exactly. US and Australia have vast expanses of non-urbanized space. It's very different from Europe. Even utilities can't be so easily centralized as they are in more densely concentrated regions like Europe. European cities grew up relying upon public transport long before the automobile was invented. Many of our cities didn't even exist before then and grew up BECAUSE of the automobile and personal freedom it allowed.

[@yellfire]

@@seethe42 its not 'freedom' when youre obliged to use a car when youre going places imo. Btw the average distance travelled per day in a car in australia is only 36 km. That includes going to the grocery and bringing the kids to school. Thats not a huge amount. Which can only mean one thing that people use their car to move around the area most of the time. So theres no argument not to invest in public transport bc 36 km can easily be done by train and bus if you have to commute. Theres no argument to design your infrastructure with only the car in mind. This is not 'war on cars', its just common sense

[@MrSolLeks]

@@yellfire 36km is 22 miles, that is nothing here in america lol. I drive for my job so its a bit diff now (75 to 150 miles a day) but back when i had a normal office job, 25 miles one way was a short drive that in best conditions i could do in 15 mins but normal rush hour was like 30 to 40 mins. To be honest, the ammount of trains or busses needed to be even half as useful in america as a car is staggering and makes no sense. 1h+ commutes are not uncommon and that can be anywhere between 5 miles and 50 miles dependimg on the area.

[@BioFake1]

11:40 As a frenchman I laughed so hard at the lack of bicycle paths in my country xD

[@thefirstkingdogo1126]

Laughs in Dutch.

[@begi8542]

Nice video :D 5:25 is the street in Slovakia capital, Bratislava, Obchodná street, used to ride thru with tram daily :D good time to listen podcast or songs, best traveling when raining outside, but we still have some old trams from soviet era, which are terrible :D

[@XPLOOO]

Now everyone will think The Netherlands is that big.. while there was Belgium also in that area.. :)

[@palomitapalomita7866]

One of the reasons why In Spain the government tries to make people use the public transport is that cars create a lot of pollution. There are even lanes that have less cars (ideal to avoid traffic jams) that can only be used by cars with 2 or plus people inside. it's made like that to make classmates and coworkers from the same area share cars, so they don't congest the roads that much by going each one in their own car

[@Deyan_B_Travels]

Finding a parking spot in a lot of European cities can be a challenge.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

That is why people take public transport ;)

[@ornfinnsson]

Form Iceland here, getting a car here is insanely expensive compared to US, a car that is $50k there can cost over $100k here cuz of 70%import fees and then additional toll fees on top of that which I believe is 24% and then some more stuffs on top like fees for how much pollution and engine size comes on top of that.... If I'd want to import a Trackhawk which I want to do I'd be looking at over $160k for it

[@thijsarends4305]

DUDE! i like your open mind and the mindset of willing to learn more than just UNCLE Sam :) Good on YOU!

[@tdmveenstra7590]

I've watched a few of your videos on Europe vs USA. I have to say, it's refreshing to hear an American genuinely interested in learning in an unbiased way. So, thank you & keep up the good work. 👍

[@Tobias20028]

I live in the Netherlands and of course we aren't perfect, I go to work on my bicycle so i don't have to use public transportation everyday, but the amount of time there's delay or something else was quite annoying 😂

[@Akkarri]

Me watching is as I comfortably drink coffee on a train to my university's city. No need to drive, I can just chill and enjoy the ride. Sure, I like driving car, but I can do that when I go for big shopping once in a while and that is enough.

[@Twirlyhead]

UK here. We have an expensive and currently unreliable rail network in need of some updating. Large parts of what was a much more complete network were cut in the 1960s abandoning many areas of the country. Still probably better than the USA though.

[@gladiusthrax4941]

An important point is that in Europe almost all households do have at least one car, maybe expect for London, Paris etc. But we use our cars less. For instance I travel to work by public transport, because I work downtown, but for everything else I use a car because it is nicer

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

I know lots of people without cars and i do not live near a big city at all. And everyone else only owns 1 per family generally, not multiple. Public transport simply is so much more convenient then cars.

[@imortaliz]

here in Norway a drivers license would cost you atleast 1.5-2k USD depends on how fast you learn, and how much you have practiced beforehand.

[@wujekcientariposta]

Fun fact: top end bicycle is THE most energy efficient mode of self propelled transportation on earth reaching above 99% energy spend being converted to forward motion, as opposed to between 7% and 20-something% for a typical car for example. It's literally more efficient than flying, more efficient than what most birds can achieve.

[@tomas.lambert]

I’m in college in Madrid. I used once car renting app (one of those services where u pick up a car from the street and drive for a short while) but it was so hard to find parking that we just never tried it again. I don’t know if it was a bad day or what but it definitely helps dicentivise the use of cars

[@kristofkovacsRisy]

I live in a small town. While going to secondary school/college I only had 2-3 buses daily. No wonder I usually use a car. But if not for this, public transport would be really good. I think we need to improve it more, so we don't pollute the air by wasting all that fuel.

[@Pyrochemik007]

American? I am czech. Every small town is connected to railway. Every village is connected to a bus. It may go just three times in the morning, but it is enough to pick up everyone without a car. Elementary school children use it. There is no such thing as football mom. Elderly just take a bus to see a doctor in a city.

[@kristofkovacsRisy]

@@Pyrochemik007 I live in Serbia. The connection was very good... with the neighbouring town. So I always used my car, motorbike or walked that 7-8km.

[@Pyrochemik007]

@@kristofkovacsRisy If the bus does not help workers to get in work and schoolkids to school, the goverment failed. Low frequency is inevitable in a village, but bus fares should be still cheaper than any other means of transportation, assuming there is no train. Once you connect ten or so villages, it is large enough to fill the bus with 10 rides daily.

[@kristofkovacsRisy]

@@Pyrochemik007 It's probably because of politics. We're like at the border of 3 "regions". It's like: There aren't many ways to travel, so people buy cars. Since people have cars, buses aren't used.

[@Pyrochemik007]

@@kristofkovacsRisy And it is silly. Serbian economical situation is one of the worst in europe, yet you guys refuse to use cars. Cars, which easily cost 1/3rd of your income. And it is expensive for the country as well, because it needs to build the infrastructure. In fact, even american cities are slowly and surely aiming toard bankrupt, because they cant keep up with infrastructure maintenance fees.

[@ifroggyfresh6318]

(Netherlands - car owner) There's some pros and cons to drive a car here, the cost of road taxes depends on the emissions, weight, engine size and where the car is registered (home address). Insurance is paid monthly and road taxes are paid every 3 months. The majority of roads are in really good condition and taken care of. You can get anywhere within 2 to 3 hours safely whilst crossing borders (france; belgium; germany; luxembourg.) Drivers are respectful, aware and respecting the speed limits. Good thing about Holland being flat as a pancake and having good road maintenance is that your clutch and suspension will last a very long time.

[@stewartlee8858]

Just read that Dunedin South Island NZ wants to reinstate the rail network. I'd love to see it.

[@adampetten5349]

Actually a lot of People were taking Amtrak in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin 2009-2012. However, the increased traffic along with more freight trains led to delays which reduced ridership. The Pandemic delivered a massive blow as many more people still work from home than in 2019.

[@emuxkr]

I live in a capital city of a small northern Europe country. We have only buses/electric buses to move inside a city. It costs from 60 to 90 cents to go from one side of a city to another. There are bus stops at 5min walking distance at maximum. We don't even have a car, it's not needed. If we need to bring something heavy home there is a cheapish uber alternative.

[@easy_watching]

what also makes The Netherlands really bike friendly, besides the great infrastructure, it's completely flat 😂

[@nicoladc89]

yeah only Pogacar can travel with bike up and down the Alps, the Apennines or the Pyrenees, but even up and down the hills of Rome. In Italy for example only the 23% of the country is plain, 41% hills and the rest mountains. But there is another reason, Netherlands is small, dense (it is the most densely populated nation in Europe after the microstates such as Vatican, San Marino or Monaco) and a lot urbanized. The 80% of France is wooded areas or agricultural production areas, more than 30% of Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France (the 47% of Austria) is forest area, only 10% of Netherlands is.

[@Martin-di9pp]

@@nicoladc89 I'm sorry but that is just dead wrong. Yes, the Netherands is very densely populated but a quick google search told me that 54% of the land is used for agriculture and 13% on housing and infrastructure. The Netherlands, on their very, very small area is only second to the USA when it comes to amount of agriculture export.

[@nicoladc89]

​@@Martin-di9pp 54% of agricultural areas and 10% of wooded areas, means a lot of urbanized. Netherlands has the highest percentage of urbanized plain area in the world (23% of total land area), Netherlands has the 4th highest percentage of urban population in Europe (93%, after San Marino, Monaco and Belgium), 13th in the world. So yes, Netherlands is a lot urbanized, small and dense. You can travel from Rotterdam to Utrecth via Den Haag and Amsterdam (the 4 biggest cities of the Netherlands) covering less than 130 km. By bike it would take you about 7 hours with a positive altitude difference of 70 meters. Italy for example, is another dense country with many cities that form a large urban fabric (it's called "the 100 cities country") and have 5 times more km of bicycle paths than France (and 3 times more than Netherlands), but France is bigger, less dense and a lot less urbanized. Obviously there is also a cultural factor, for the Dutch it is normal to travel by bicycle, but it is normal to travel by bicycle also because they live in a flat, small and very urbanized country.

[@Martin-di9pp]

@@nicoladc89 Thanks for explaining how the country I've been living in for 47 years looks like. I had no idea... I work both in agriculture and nature reserves as a shepherd. Just pointing out that only 10% of our land is for agriculture is nonsense.

[@nicoladc89]

@@Martin-di9pp I didn't say 10% of your land is for agricolture...

[@Michelle_Schu-blacka]

I live in London and sold my beloved sports car a couple of years ago because I'd had no need to drive it in about five years and it was getting wrecked just sitting outside. It was turning its parking space into a garden with all the dirt forming a ring around it. It only grew moss but a few more years...

[@michelod.i.y.5202]

It's never too late come visit us in Europe 😊

[@larissahorne9991]

I'm originally from Brissie (Brisbane). When I was 13 Mum and I left My Abusive Father, moving to her home town in The Atherton Tablelands, Far North Queensland. Which is up a Mountain Range behind Cairns. You definitely need a car to get around up here. There are some buses but you need plan carefully and expect to spend hours in whatever town you visit. Personally I can't drive, so if necessary I'll get a taxi to the larger town about 15 minutes from my home 🏡 to go shopping. Brissie on the other hand is pretty good when it comes to public transport, for the most part buses and trains run every half hour. The majority of people don't bother taking their car to visit the city. The majority of cars you see in the city are passing through to go to somewhere else in Brissie. The majority of people will take public transportation to the city and then walk to wherever they want to go. Well if you choose to take your car, you'll need to pay for parking and walk around anyway. As of the late 60's we don't have any trams in Brissie, there are some buses but it's easier to walk. I'll start another comment.

[@b3as_t]

Love the content, you break everything down really well and give a great balanced view on everything. Relaxed and laid back atmosphere makes it nice to watch a video like this after a long day, you have a good voice for a podcast. Might want to consider it :)

[@Mister__Jey]

8:31 I have never understood that until today, why e.g. At Shopping malls or big stadiums there are always INCREDIBLE LARGE HUGE PARKING LOTS in the US, and why ISN'T there any PARKING GARAGES or UNDERGROUND GARAGES? Because an underground car park or a parking garage sometimes has five or ten floors stacked on top of each other, so you take up space and you save space, but if you just need huge parking spaces, you have to walk endlessly first and why? And you take up all the space.

[@Alfadrottning86]

Just one thing .. Europe was not ahead of public transport compared to the US. The USA had public transport and was on the right track when they developed many major cities .. they just DECIDED not to do it (due to lobbying - or maybe political corruption) The USA simply decided to go all in on roads and cars. But as with many things that need to "grow" instead of just having money thrown at it ... . Building from the ground up is hard and expensive .. but it can be done. CHANGING an already established system is much, much harder and much, much more expensive. edit: also, you are of course aware that this video is VERY biased. Europe has much better infrastructure - i think that one is objectively true. But its not such a black and white picture as presented there. There is a huge demand for massive improvement in Europe for its public transport, too. In many countries it is old, crumbling and in dire need of modernization. Also - yes, taking the Netherlands as a biking heaven is nice .. but it is also a flat, small country in a moderate climate with very few if any geographical anomalies (.. uh, like hills or mountains..)

[@janihaavisto79]

In Finland I use bicycle to move my 4km/one way trip 8km combined but in wint3r times I use bus. Very easy and if those things are late you know next one is 15min away.

[@OffpeakPL]

Hi there, I'll put it in some perspective. I live in Kraków, Poland and I don't own the car, it's not like I can't afford it, I just don't need it. I work in the city center, and live 10km away, i can get to work within 20-25min tops, from door to door using public transport for a 90 PLN (around 18 USD). This is the price I pay for my public transport card, which I an use whenever I like, as many times I like during a whole month, I could literally just drive around in public transport 24/7 if I like and I wouldn't pay a cent more. Let's make it yearly 18$ X 12 months = 216$ a year to move around the whole city. Now, if I would like to go by the car I would have to - buy a car (obviously) - ~ 4000$ for something reasonable - pay for gas (round trip to and from work with current gas prices) - ~ 2000$ yearly - pay for parking in city center ~ 300$ a year - car maintenance (insurance, fluids, and all this crap) ~ 1000$ a year = Costs running a car a year would have reached 3300$ and I counted gas to and from work only. And I didn't even mentioned, that finding parking space in Kraków city center is hard 😂 Sooo 216$ a year with no worry of being late, compare to 3300$ and struggle with finding parking space. Oh, and when I need a car, I just rent one or take Uber, it's still waaaay cheeper for me to actually own one. Cheers!

[@matthiasmergaerts]

In europe most parking lots are undergroud so they don't take up space in the city

[@vinniamsterdam700]

The bleu and white tram is the one I take to work.👍👋

[@barath4545]

IWrocker, car prices, you should check up on Denmark there :) 90% car price tax up to around $16k, then 150% of the rest - Plus import tax on every car since we make none (bar Zenvo) here. Example car prices: 2014 Audi A4 3.0 used $41.7k, 2019 Corvette C7 Z51 Convertible ($85k in US) $358k in 2020, F-150 (Found ONE in nation w.7M ppl) for $50k shortcab 4x4 V8. Gas was $10.50/gal but now is $14isch/gal.

[@DILINGER0]

Now take a look about how many public resources you have, from healthcare, to high education, transportation and other infraestructures and services. In USA you can drive a v8 but maybe you can't pay de insuline. Priorities.

[@spyro257]

the bike map, left out Denmark, where there's bike paths everywhere, and in Copenhagen, there's bike, super highways, made years ago, to make it even faster and easier to get around

[@toomasargel8503]

12:58 That is Tallinn old town. Greatings from Estonia.

[@mbszd6832]

To be fair the state of public transport varies from country to country. The design is rather decent but the upkeep tends to lack. Especially if you use regional public transport and not inner city public transport.

[@albertocaiado7371]

Hello, just come take a look here in Luxembourg, all transports (train and all kind of bus) are free to everyone. The best too you all

[@originalkhawk]

a huge pro for taking public transport for my daily ride to and from work is i don't have to do anything, don't get me wrong i love driving, but when i leave the house for work at 6AM, i just sit my ass down on the train, grab my phone, put in my earbuds, watch some netflix while sipping my coffee, and the train takes me where i need to go, when i leave work, i am exhausted, i sit my ass back down on the train and it takes me home while i read a book, my trip to work and back is a little over an hour and a half one way, and that time is spend relaxing, watching a movie, or reading a book, i love the fact that as soon as i leave my work, my free time starts. my specific commute would be a little over an hour one way by car, and on my way to work i wouldn't drive in too much traffic, but going back i would hit traffic putting it on par with going by train on most days or even a little bit slower on really bad days. so yeah on a perfect day i spend about an hour longer commuting by train, and i would be able to sleep in for about 30 extra minutes if i went by car, but the fact that i don't have to do anything and i get to relax during my commute is 100% worth it to me.

[@nicolavanvelzen1465]

Come to Utrecht. They have a big parking place outside of town, You pay for parking and you get up to four free tickets for a bus which will bring you straight into centre of town.

[@gabbyt98]

I live in Melbourne, Australia and yes despite the fact that a lot of people own cars here, we have an excellent public transport system. Since I’m a uni student and my university is on the other side of the city, it’s better for me to take public transport than having to drive. Also it’s difficult to drive in the city centre bc it’s hard to find a parking spot which is something that I like. Also you can go to certain towns outside the city but within the state of Victoria by train as well which is nice.

[@formatique_arschloch]

The Nordic Passport Union: In 1952, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland agreed to abolish the requirement for passports for travel between them and to readmit citizens of other countries who had entered illegally into one of the four countries from another. On 1 July 1954, the agreement was extended to allow citizens to reside and work in any of the four countries without a residence or work permit. I was lazy and copied that from Wikipedia. So the free travel has been a thing up here for ages.

[@andyduhamel1925]

Taking the TGV across France is so much less stressful for business meetings, no trying to find a parking space or worrying about a parking ticket, arrive at station taxi meeting done! Return home at 200mph in comfort.

[@michaelpilos]

It’s so admiring that this channel is open to understanding Europe and a different way of life! Which at the end is quite identical to our cousins in America! 😁

[@freudsigmund72]

7:07 I love the pacman images on these roofs

[@paul1979uk2000]

Everything is pretty accurate in that video, you don't really need a car to get wherever you want but most have a car, I don't drive a car and never really felt restricted in where I can go. Also, there was a mistake in the video about the 3 months travel stay, if you're an EU citizen, you can work, rest and play in any EU country for as long as you want, I think it's only 3 months for none EU citizens, also, if I'm not mistaken, in the Schengen zone of countries, I think people can travel just as easy as they do in their own country or how an American would travel state to state, there basically is no boarders or checks in the Schengen zone of countries.

[@TheTurtlefarm]

If you stay longer than 3 months, you just have to register as a resident. And it's just a formality, not something you need to apply in a sense.

[@narimantassakalys1188]

You still can use a car and make it public transportation. We have car sharing companies where you can find free car near you on app, unlock it with app and basicly pay way way less then for uber or taxi etc per kilometer driven.

[@zigman63]

I remember about 11yrs ago I worked in Edinburgh in Scotland, and every morning I would drive into a European city centre, I had a fob key for the gates to where I was working, however there was hardly any big traffic jams coming into the city centre and the reason was Edinburgh has about 3 Park and rides outside the city.when as a family driving from the Scottish Borders to Edinburgh for shopping etc was so much easier because of their public transport.

[@Obi-J]

There are Park and Ride schemes all over the place in the UK now. For those that don't know what they are, they basically work exactly like an airport carpark, you pay to park your car in a purpose built carpark somewhere out of town and then catch a free shuttle bus into the town/city centre.

[@nacho17955]

No sé si eso es cierto, pero si es así la respuesta sería: porque Europa se ha diseñado de forma natural a lo largo de miles de años.

[@HEXZ0R-]

there is also different lines on the road for public transport ,so even if u have a car and u have to go to work and back u really better off with public transport , because going to work early in the morning means there are more ppl going to work and when u go back from work is even worse, is huge stress , better take the bus and chill , they have like i said thier own line on the road and never get stuck so is very nice , and when u have something more personal to do or go shopping going with the car is ofc better choice

[@Petej67]

I live in small city in Finland. We dont have trams but yeah we have good public transport. There is 2 store parking place under the market.

[@kentnilsson465]

A monthly card for public transportation is 100 dollars and you can travel how much you want and during rush hours the buses/trams come every 8 minutes even far out in the suburbs

[@sirrodneyffing1]

Petrol (gasoline) is about $6usd a US Gallon today (Nov 13th) in the UK.

[@BerraLJ]

Diesel in Sweden right now is around $8-9 per US gallon converted from liters.

[@hematula1]

That was actually interesting... So Paris to Amsterdam is roughly 500 km. That's about the same distance as driving from Boston to Syracuse. Albeit driving time is more like 5h.

[@MandaClaudiuMCM]

Just for you to understand, I live in Ireland and in 2019 I got my driving license and bought a car. The costs are like this: -To get the driving license you have to do the theory test and pay around 50€, then 30€ for eye test and then another 50€ to get the Learner Permit. After getting the permit you have to do at least 12 hours of driving lessons with an authorized driving instructor which were on average 400€ at the time. After you do the driving lessons and you're ready you have to do the driving test which takes around 1h from the moment you start until you finish and will cost you 80€ if you do it with your car or around 200€ if you do it with the instructor's car. Passing the test 1st time, it's quite hard tbh and the average is twice. When you pass you have to pay again 50€ for a full driving license. With the minimum hours and passing the test 1st time it would cost around 660€ for best case scenario and if you have your car. Otherwise, I'd say that the average is around 1500€. -My car was a little Suzuki Swift 2011, 1.2 Petrol with 150K km for which I paid 4000€ + 200€ yearly Road Tax. - Insurance, well that's a disaster in Ireland. Insurance companies were asking around 3000€ for the first year. I managed to get it with 1800€ the first year with a box that monitors the speed, basically to keep new drivers in check. So yeah, generally speaking all around EU, getting a driving license, a car and insurance it's quite expensive. (In some places might be less but also salaries are less).

[@stephenhargreaves9011]

As a Brit, and in one of the highest charging for car fuel (not the highest, but we are up there) and I drive a car that is hungry around town (it does much better on the motorways), I used to live around 20 miles from Manchester - and I worked in Manchester city centre, and never even considered getting another car, simply because public transport was so much easier and faster. On the downside, I've moved home and job (to South Wales) and the office is around 7 minutes by car from home, and so now I drive, everywhere, except when I go to town for a beer, of course, in which case I make the 1.5 mile walk there, and get a taxi home. Of course, I love driving, so having bought a car again, I get to go cruising, as you would say in the States, just for fun.

[@MythicalMystic]

The US is a younger country than countries in Europe so the US were able to create grid systems and wider roads to cater for car usage, Europe who are much older historically had to fit into a system with smaller bendy roads and not nice straight ones.

[@Koen030NL]

You know that the US was there before the car right? They just adjusted their country to make space for cars.

[@hagelslag9312]

Partially, many cities were also bombed completely and they actually changed them into car dependent cities, but regretted their decision and returned the walkable cities in the 80's and 90's. I think it has also to do with the available space. In Europe, people already lived much closer together while in the USA they had the room to make it spacious. So they took that opportunity to use that space. Only it's now becoming a problem because it's far too spacious, adding to the fact it's literally illegal to build anything other than a detached single family home. While in Europe they can build flats and apartments, which gives you so much more home with much less space.

[@savaria5063]

Looked it up, the El Paso Tram looks really cool.

[@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele]

@IWrocker I like very much your reaction videos about Europe, as an European. You are truly interested and willing to lear the difference between our cultures, as I am (and this is why I watch your videos). At 8:28 there's a thing that shocks me! Your houses! Basically to my European eye they seem like big garages with a small entrance for people on the side! Single family houses in Europe generally have the garage underneath or in the back! we try to hide it and make it smaller so it won't steal so much space. Furthermore I have a question: why single family houses in USA don't have fences to separate the lawn and the yard from the street and from the ones of your neighbours? We always put fences to limit properties.

[@simonp37]

I moved from Denmark to Czech Republic. I just rented a van in Cz, drove to Denmark to get my stuff and came back, without a single check at the borders. I got a job, bank account, health insurance and everything, without even informing the state here. Only after 3 years I did register for a temporary residence, as you get some more perks. But it's not necessary.

[@TheJackobus]

Speaking of "black top" I live in a small town in South Africa where we have an experimental parking lot for our mall. This parking lot is cooled by running water underneath the lot in large copper pipes, the water that gets heated by the sun shining on the lot is then used to supply the entire mall and a few buildings around the mall with all the hot water that they require and as a bonus the lot is up to 15 degrees Celsius cooler than a normal parking lot. I have to disclaim though that the area that I live in rather regularly reaches high 40's Celsius (90 to 100 Fahrenheit) so this may not always work in colder climates. But still it is very interesting and impressive what engineers can think of when given the chance to stretch their imagination

[@Korfax124]

On bike lanes; OBF should have paned up on the map a little bit... Denmark also has a ton of bike lanes, some of which run in parallel with large roads and country roads

[@rasmuswi]

I'm kind of looking for some great video that describes Interrail/EUrail (I think it's called InterRasil of you're an EU citizen and EURail if you're not) and how amazing it is. Here in Europe it's almost a rite of passage for teenagers. You buy an Interrail/EURail pass for a few hundred dollars, depending on how long it's valid, and then you can travel for free throughout all 33 InterRail countries during the time it's valid. The exception is that some trains require a seat reservation, which typically costs a few dollars, generally less than $10, and those you still need to pay for even if you have the pass.But generations of European teenagers have bought themselves a card and then spent a month exploring Europe on the cheap, making totally spontaneous decisions about which country they will be in the next day. A common trick is to sleep on night trains to avoid having to spend money on hotel rooms. I never did that when I was 15 so I did it now when I'm 50. And yes I get that this type of holiday when you have a family is a bit like running a military campaign, but you seem like a curious guy who might still like such a holiday.

[@iandekker4950]

I'm actually planning to do the interail with friends in about 1 and a half years I'm really excited for it. so i wondered what are the best routes to take in your opinion?

[@nalinea18]

Yeah, we have gas prices that can go up to about 2 €/litre (happened 2022) which is about 8 USD/gallon. I was laughing my ass off at all the memes of US people being shocked by 4 USD/gallon, as gas hasn't been that cheap where I live since the 1990s. Try doubling your "outrageous" prices and you'll see that driving a pick-up truck is not at all viable unless you absolutely have to have one for work. Then again, the gas prices are offset by cars that just take less. US-style big cars are really unpopular here because they can easily take double the gas that a well-made German or Japanese (and much smaller) car takes. I have to buy a car soon as I move to the countryside, and my first criteria is that it can't take more than 4.5 litres/100km, which comes to about 52 miles per gallon. Haven't yet seen a pick-up or an SUV come anywhere close. Less fumes and emissions and less 💸💸💸 will make the decision for me. ETA: And the best part of traveling by train is that if I go visit relatives I need to take a 3-hour train, which would be 5 hours by car, and I don't need to drive. I'm literally watching KZbin with the train's free WiFi or sleeping, neither of which I recommend while driving 😅

[@Bot.number.69420]

In Finland there are lots of taxes on using cars in fuel and annual tax which is tied to co2 emission and diesels have bonus tax. My diesel cr-v has $2/day in taxes and $1.2/day in insurance (includes 24% insurance vat) also diesel is around $8.2/gal with taxes. New cars have "car tax" when bought topped with 24% vat. Those taxes were introduced as temporary... 50-60 years ago. And some more tax on fuel also as a 28% bonus before 24% vat from total. We pay tax from tax. Originally taxes on cars were supposed to be used for road network expansion and maintenance, these days only part of taxes are used for that purpose. For many people in cities public transportation is the way to go as parking space is limited and parking can be tens to hundreds of euros per month. Underground parking is pretty popular way to get parking spaces for shopping centers in cities. In rural area public transport sucks as many bus lines have been shut down as not profitable and train stations are far away. That makes owning a car mandatory and distances can be long for work and groceries etc. Some have 50-90 miles to town in northern parts.

[@patricktrakzel9657]

You should inform yourself about Public Transport in Switserland and make a video about it. It is really amazing. In the US there is a really strong car lobby. So designers of rural areas don't even think about public transport. It is an afterthought.

[@adamknott7830]

1. Welcome to the war on cars 2. Nice video

[@adampetten5349]

I bike 5 kilometers to work each way 8 months a year. In Winter it's about 6.5 as my shortcut gets snowed in🤣

[@dominikdusza357]

I mean gettig from Paris to Amsterdam for 30$ is neat but there are also other options like planes for example, and you are able to fly across EU sometimes for 10-15$ or even less which is pretty amazing.

[@norbertlevas3819]

In Europe you fly from from one country to another one for a day and fly back cheaper than taxi 🚕 from home to the airport here in Vancouver

[@vkdrk]

This! You can fly from one country to another for 50 - 100€, sometimes airlines have crazy sales when you can buy tickets for less than 10€ (international flights) so our air travel is definitely very affordable

[@randywatson8347]

Private leasing a decent hatchback costs around 500 buks a month including insurance, taxes and stuff. 60 buks each quarter for parkingzone tax and fuel is 4 buks a gallon.

[@TheXshot]

You should react to basically every video from 'Not Just Bikes'. Love these topics

[@maartenneppelenbroek]

Really like your open attitude towards parts of the world you're not familiar with.

[@toomasargel8503]

Tallinn is for Tallinn citizens free public transport . Yes if You come out of Tallin is charge ticket then best buy month card for 40 euro. Train ticket at Tallinn to Tartu ( 110miles ) is max 11 euro ! Bus ticket 13 euro same route.

[@evanflynn4680]

Vid on alternative ideas for suburban sprawl. In most cases they compare the map coverage between US suburb population density and the medium density housing options. Gives you pause to think when you realise the vast areas around cities covered by single family homes could have been made into amazing communities where everything they need is within walking distance. Also, look up Barcelona super blocks. Great idea that could be adapted for many cities in the US. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6SkY3-bfbl8i6s

[@Real_MisterSir]

Yep this is super important, the city planning regulations in the US that forbid mixed use -aka you can't have a small local grocery store or shop in the same area as common suburb living space, which forces general stores and supply centers to become these massive industrial blocked areas that are isolated and force you to take a car to get there, just for your daily needs. If there was instead the option of mixed use, you could have a small corner cafe, a local grocery store, etc all within walking distance of your quiet suburbian home. It would lessen car noise pollution because nobody in your neighborhood would be forced to drive for common daily necessities, they can just walk or take a bicycle for a small 5 minute trip. It would also help with the average exercise levels in all households, which is an even less talked about added bonus.

[@StuffINBlender]

My town has started a free Bus network. You can go to the hospital, the supermarket, and many stops between! I have a license for a car, and motorbike. I only keep the bike for enjoyment. I can literally do everything with free public transport. If I want to go to another town or city, it is 2€!

[@eltharynd]

As a European who struggles daily to make stereotypical Europeans to stfu about food cause i don't wanna be a stereotype myself, i appreciate what you're doing sir

[@IceBox666theone666]

We can all learn from each other instead of hating each other for our differences.