When an American friend explained it to me at uni I honestly thought they were trying to trick. It's just such an absurd concept, like how does anyone walk anywhere? Then I realised they don't.
Where I live there arent even roads being improved in many areas. You just drive across the dirt
None of the countries folks are comparing have close to the amount of space to cover.
Yes bigger metro areas are dense enough to have public transit... problem is most folks dont live in that area and commute in. Example ...areas like the SF bay area has folks traveling 2 hrs 1 way on train or car to get to the office