In fact in the UK you would be forced to aggregate all fuel and road tax and offset it against road maintenance because there is no direct correlation to be made, as tax is “one big bucket”.
The majority of the planet are going from one point of interest to another at a relative constant rate- but yes people are spread further and further- ironically this is helped by requiring huge parking space everywhere anyone needs to go, and needing huge houses so you can park multiple cars outside. Its a self-reinforcing problem.
(This is most evident when comparing cities like Malmö in Sweden with Orlando, FL. Malmö has a higher total population but approximately 1/20th the road surface).
Problem? It is THE BEST solution we have. Any suggested alternatives are worse and less convenient.
Yes, it gets cold in the winter in Sweden- and I sometimes have to wear rainware. But the lack of noise, huge highways and being able to walk if necessary is such a crazy feeling of freedom that you can't possibly imagine.
I literally mean, you cannot imagine.
Being able to drink a beer, and then walk with a friend in the evening with my bike in hand, being able to park anywhere at any time, and being able to replace/fix my bike with no money (or, even buy a new bike without crazy paperwork or registration or licensing for my ability to drive it).
Not having anxiety about paying for parking, fuel or ensuring that I have a place to park, not to mention the lack of abusive road-rage folks.
I've lived in other places, and I've visited supposed "car-utopias" where everything is built to "great" standards and honestly the quality of life is just many orders of magnitude inferior. I've never been to the US and stayed in a nice quiet house without it being 30 minutes drive (in stop/start traffic and with aggressive drivers who cut you off) from anything of any value.
So, no, it's not the best option. It's the best option you can think of.
I'm in Canada, not the US, so maybe it's slightly different. But where I live seems quiet. Comparable to the country at worst, where I lived on a through-road to a beach. It's a suburb but I could walk to a grocery store in like 10 minutes, if that counts as something of value.
> in stop/start traffic and with aggressive drivers who cut you off
The stop and go can be bad during rush-hour near major highways, true. But aggressive drivers sounds like a one off bad experience, or lack of experience driving. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but they're an exception not the norm.
> So, no, it's not the best option. It's the best option you can think of.
I'd argue a general solution is better than one that only works for some people.
I wouldn't consider a 25 minute commute while being exposed to freezing rain or heatstroke weather to be the best in any way.
Before I could afford to live in the city, I had A 40 minute commute when the roads weren't closed from snow. That's basically impossible on a bike.
I've had, what I consider, enough experience to feel like I know what I'm talking about here.
However, I haven't been anywhere in Canada except Vancouver and Montreal (and: downtowns there exclusively) so you could be right that there's something I'm missing, though you said 25 and I said 15, and I'm going to summon that one thing I said before: it was a 40 minute commute because everything has to be made so far from everything else.
My personal opinion is;
A) People drive to nice train stations which great parking or make use of a wide bus network (which runs infrequently to very low density neighbourhoods)
B) People cycle where they can.
C) the roads are used for deliveries, disabled people and when people need to transport their own heavy goods on the occasion it's required,
D) Minor enforcement based on ANPR (need an expensive permit if it's parked for an aggregate of 10h over a month downtown and a minor limit on how many trips can be made) To keep the roads free for those who really need it.
I know public transport gets a bad rap, but that's because the public transport system available in NA is somehow pretty scary and filled with the worst of humanity. Rubbing shoulders with people doesn't have to feel awful, it does when there is overcrowding and a separate social safety issue.
Just to be clear, there's no specific "road tax" in the UK - it was abolished in 1937. Instead general taxation (e.g. income tax) pays for roads.
Your point about places becoming further apart has been made by Cory Doctorow who refers to it as "geometry hates cars".
While this is _technically_ correct, most powered vehicles on UK roads have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty, which is popularly known as "road tax".
Of course, with the 4th power weight relationship with road damage, ordinary cars are not really causing much damage compared to buses and trucks, so maybe it's better to state that we're subsidising logistics companies.
- Train capacity is much, much higher. You couldn't have the density of France, the Netherlands or even NYC without most people travelling by train. LA struggles with 1/10th of the density.