What's the habitable area of Sweden? No way it's as much as the US. There is very little farmland there. Look at the size of Canada, and most of it is useless beyond the southern greenbelt area.
Rural areas are not the problem. People will have to use their cars in rural areas no matter what. But that’s fine - there’s no density there. You don’t see people complaining about traffic in rural areas either. The issue is the cities, and comparing cities in the US to cities in Canada, American cities lag in having good public transit.
