Europe

We need public transport.

And plenty of safe and comfortable bike paths - the cheapest, and often fastest option.

And, if you look at the transport capacity of bike paths in persons per hour passing, they are absolutely incredible. Far more than most large multi-lane streets for cars. Cykelslangen in Copenhagen has at rush hour times a vehicle frequency of 2 per second - that's 7200 vehicles per hour. Cars would need a motorway through the city to reach that capacity.

One of the many more good things about bikes is that they release expensive public transport resource for those which do really need them - people who are too ill, too old, incapacitated, or need to go too far distances to get there by bike. We should think of public transport in cities as an extension and supplement of a bike-centered system, not as the main option.

What do you mean. They could still choose crippling debt.

That’s not really a choice, is it?

Isn't it? In less car-centric places not having a car is entirely valid choice to make.

I could quite easily afford a car, but parking where I live is a nightmare and I can get get to 99 percent of my destinations either on my bicycle or if further away, by taking a train.

There's some penalty in terms of convenience and traveltimes (especially out in the farmland, even though I can almost guarantee i'm faster on my bicycle than anything on four wheels within the city I live in), but that's easily overshadowed by cost saving in my case by not having to buy and maintain a car and honestly also a gym membership which costs both money and the far more irreplaceable commodity of time.

while those of us who live in rural areas are starved for public transport options.

Those could elect politicans who improve their situation. Otherwise, it just looks like people have chosen a non-sustainable way of life, do nothing to improve that, but moan when they are bitten by consequences. I even know about a community outside of Munich where people oppose to set up bus connection (apparently they fear that poorer people move there).

And of course, poor people should receive help - but come on, not everyone who moved to a large house in the middle of nowhere is poor.

Apart from that, by far most the population lives in cities, suburbia, and metropolitan areas. Here is where improvements help in the quickest way, and often are most efficient.

The problems of car dependency go beyond carbon, though - it's also about road danger, space demand, micro plastics, the exclusion from society of people who can't afford cars, the exclusion of disabled people, etc etc. Changing the engine doesn't address these and we need to work towards reducing reliance on this form of transport

I'm on the edge of suburbia, butting up against ag rural. It's ten miles to the next town either direction. My bike gets forty on a full charge. And most of the streets (with the exception of the major roads every couple miles, most of which have functional bike lanes) are one and a half lanes wide, 25 MPH and I usually only see people walking their dogs and the postmister when I'm out there. My 20mph governed ebike does great for getting me around locally. I ended up slapping a collapsible 35L milk crate on the back (I think that's the right volume) for when I need to pick up a couple hundred pounds of kitty litter. Which the wife says is tomorrow yaaaay

I guess my point is (I actually have one this time!) I bet a bunch of rural folk could do pretty well using an ebike as their primary vehicle

I hate this sentiment so much, because it implies that everyone can just wait for change:

Also: "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good [enough]."

Societal Progress is an exercise in iterative steps. Electric cars today, something even better tomorrow (and by tomorrow I mean in fifty to a hundred years because lord knows people refuse to fund mass transit in some countries).

I hate this sentiment so much, because it implies that everyone can just wait for change:....

Pretty sure that Greenpeace does not want people to wait for change - they push for it

That’s an easy thing to say when you’re young and healthy.

You will think differently why you are 70, arthritic and facing chemo.

I am 59, have asthma, and cycle one hour to work. And cycling conserves and improves my health.

And: People in their 70 need public transport far more than others. Many of them cannot drive a car safely anymore (examples here). There are many tragic and unnecessary accidents because of that.