If even the Dutch don’t take public transit, can anyone expect Americans to?

Of all the nations on this earth, the Netherlands is one where you’d figure public transit would prevail. The country is incredibly densely populated, you can get pretty much everywhere by train or tram or bus, and car ownership is a highly taxed hassle.

And yet, here’s what it says in an article (warning: it’s in Dutch!) in Saturday’s NRC Handelsblad:

The car is … far and away the favorite means of transportation. Of all moves from place to place, 62% are by car and only 5% with public transit.

That still leaves a healthy percentage over for bike rides and walks (the article doesn’t disclose the other shares). But still: Only 5% market share for public transit. In Holland.

I take the subway to work every day. But I can do that because I’m an anomaly: I work in a traditional downtown and I live in a neighborhood built before the car came along. Most people don’t live and work that way, not even in the Netherlands, and so they prefer their transit to be private. Spending billions of dollars on rapid transit, light rail, express buses, and the like probably won’t ever change that.

Spain’s Prime Minister Warns Country Is in Danger of Being Shut Out of Markets

MADRID — Spain‘s prime minister warned Wednesday that the country faced the danger of being locked out of international markets as investors continued to fret about the future of the euro and Greece’s place in the 17-country eurozone.

“Right now there is a serious risk that (investors) will not lend us money or they will do so at an astronomical rate,” Mariano Rajoy told Spanish lawmakers.

Stephanie

That’s quite strange; on a visit to the Netherlands in January I noticed lots of trams and bikes and not a lot of traffic–of course, it may have been due to where I was staying.

In South Korea, a very densely populated country, many people take the subway or bus, especially those underage who can not drive yet. It is an excellent way to get around the city, especially when there is congested traffic (which is pretty much all the time).

Creating extensive public transportation systems may not be very popular with most citizens, but it is a real pity because not only is public transportation quite convenient but can reduce auto emissions as well.
Bruce Johson

The problem with fixed rail Mass Transit is that is stuck in the antiquated notion of Central Downtowns and Cities. Development is shifting away from centralized areas of employment and towards a more decentralized approach (sees Virginia, Northern). Whatever the merits of the new ex-burb reality; fixed rail mass transit is not well equipped to meet the needs of the new “cities’
Charlie Duffy

I love driving in my car. I can listen to music as loud as I want. I can control the temperature to my liking I can basically go as fast or slow as I want. Driving is just plain FUN!
I would never give my car up for public transit, even if it was free
http://www.belle-aurore.com/mike/ Michael Ho

The cited article is primarily about road pricing and the fear, like in our own urban areas, of ever-increasing congestion — so it’s no surprise that the pull-quote comes from near the bottom of the story. It’s not a story about transit at all — it’s about road pricing.

You may find this report useful; it reinforces your point about high car usage in the Netherlands, but is much more enlightening on other forms of mobility (such as bicycles, which as of the 1998 report date formed about a quarter of trips in Amsterdam — it looks like the report errs in extrapolating this number to the country at large).
http://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/ Justin Fox

Thanks for the link, Michael. I’m aware the NRC Handelsblad article was mostly about road pricing and congestion; I just didn’t find that part of it surprising.

This line from the report Michael links to is particularly interesting: “The share of public transport in the Netherlands is less than in many other countries because of the widespread use of the bicycle.” Which still supports my point that people prefer private transit to public, but underscores that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a car.