My personal opinion is that the US is far too dependent on oil. If you live in a large city, there's generally public transportation, but most people live in the suburbs or rural areas where there is little to none. Where I live, there is NO public transportation at all. It's a 20 minute drive to the nearest grocery store, 30 minutes to the closest hospital, 45 minutes to the local police department.
Not only does every family have to drive everywhere, but we have to have TWO cars, since most married couples don't work at the same place and not necessarily even the same shifts. Not to mention the teens who have their own cars too, who often have to be at work before their parents can be home to drive them there. It's such a common everyday thing here that people don't even think about it.
The problem with non-urban areas is that the people are so spread out. A bus system isn't feasible in my area because of the cost. If they priced the fares high enough to cover it, traveling by car would still end up being much cheaper. An example is our public school. My son's school is a 14 minute drive away. Yet he sits on a schoolbus for an hour each way, only because there's so much distance between each home that has children out here. Not every area is that bad, of course, but it's a good example of the problem.
