That's a bare assertion, and the link doesn't support it.
There's a very important vehicle missing from the list: trucks.
Add "cargo" to "people" and, suddenly, it's no longer easy to measure. How many cars are carrying cargo in addition to persons, thereby being partially a truck in function?
The important distinction is that a car is a "place for my stuff."[1] I carry tools[1], erythritol, and emergency[2] preparedness items, at the very least. My largest car carries enough of a subset of my home that it's even a comfortable place to sleep, if need be.
I could certainly do without, but, having done so in the past, it's not worth it. Similarly, carrying a large enough subset on a bike, bus, or both, as I've done when I bike commuted, was a constant annoyance. Routinely/exclusively bicycling also requires additional cargo in the form of lights, locks, and minor repair tools.
[1] cf the late, great George Carlin
[2] As with my usage of "cargo," this is general, including such things as laptop.
In other words, you have a ton of stuff permanently in your car? It's not stuff that you need to transport from A to B.
Lights and locks are mounted on a bike, and minor repair tools can be as well (it's not necessary; the last time I got a flat tire is 4 years ago using a bike every day). I do nearly all trips on a bike, some with a bag of books & laptop or with a bag of groceries. The number of times I need to carry items that are too large or heavy to transport on a bike is very small. You can carry more with a bike than without a bike...
> I could certainly do without, but, having done so in the past, it's not worth it. Similarly, carrying a large enough subset on a bike, bus, or both, as I've done when I bike commuted, was a constant annoyance.
I don't understand what you were carrying. Can you elaborate on this?
In other words, you have a ton of stuff permanently in your car?
Both "permanently" and "ton" are exaggerations, but, aside from that, yes. I value preparedness and independence.
It's not stuff that you need to transport from A to B
I'm not sure what you're trying to assert here, but "to each according to need" echos a bit of socialism. I may not, strictly, need, but I most certainly want. Telling people just to "do without" doesn't, historically, seem to be an effective solution.
I don't understand what you were carrying. Can you elaborate on this?
I think you understand the nature of what I was carrying, but we merely disagree on the necessity or desirability of carrying it and, perhaps, definition, such as where it's carried (paniers, backpack, or mounted[1]).
[1] None of which even remotely approach the privacy and security of an automobile. Is a firearm part of ones disaster preparedness kit? Nothing doing if the kit has to be in a backpack carried with one everywhere.
Don't confuse "freight" with cargo, which I use to include everything that's physical stuff.
I don't have a guess as to the magnitude, but, anecdotally, even[1] at peak commute times, I see plenty of dedicated delivery vehicles, as well as people visibly carrying something large and bulky, such as sports equipment[2], changes of clothes, baby stuff[3], and gardening tools.
I wouldn't at all be surprised if the vast majority of peak commute trips are just trying people going "from point A to point B," but even a single, unpredictably time, cargo-carrying trip per week for a particular individual is adequate incentive for having the cability the rest of the time.
[1] or especially, since that's mostly when I'm moving slowly enough to gaze at other vehicles at length.
[2] a friend of mine commuted by train and/or bike for a while and eventually abandoned it, in part, because it meant he could no longer play ice hockey mid-day on workdays.
[3] strollers and diaper bags I've come to recognize, and, if one can extrapolate from child safety seats, there are even more unseen.
I'm not sure what you're trying to get across here, since the cargo also doesn't drive the vehicles, nor otherwise transport itself. It wouldn't exist without the people.
http://commontragedies.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/cars-vs-b...