Even parts of the US that are "urban" are sprawling highway dependent beasts. Go to Houston or even the SF Bay Area. That's not even counting the sprawling suburbs that can go for 50+ miles around the city. They're technically urban but not dense enough to get anywhere without a highway. San Francisco to South Bay is like 45 minutes on the highway without traffic. I did that trip every few weeks when I lived there to see one friend or another. My daily commute was 15 minutes on the highway at highway speeds and I avoided traffic by starting and leaving later.