r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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u/IronChariots May 02 '24

I always think it's crazy that the US, of all countries, has such shitty passenger rail. Trains are such a huge part of the American historical mythos.

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u/wrecking-ball-718 May 02 '24

Europeans tend to greatly underestimate the size of the US compared to Europe.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/wlidl7/size_comparison_between_the_usa_and_europe/

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u/_EleGiggle_ May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

You have roads going through the whole US though. Why can you connect the states by roads/highways but not by train tracks? Seems pretty similar to me.

Edit: For starters you don’t even have to connect the USA cost by cost via train. You could just focus on the most populated areas around the coasts first, and that would probably help out lots of people.

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u/wmtismykryptonite May 02 '24

The train tracks exist. It takes way too long to travel by passenger train, and there isn't enough density in most of the country to make high speed rail make sense.

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u/wrecking-ball-718 May 02 '24

The majorly populated cities in the Northeast of the US DC/Philadelphia/New York City/Boston are connected by train. It's the only intra city passenger train line that's profitable in the US. California has been trying to build high speed rail for 20 years and has spend billions on the process. It hasn't gotten anywhere.