This is a big reason why I moved to an electric bike. Being alone in a car made to transport 5 to 7 people, moving 2 tons of metal just to drive a person weighting maybe 80 kg, is insane.
Anytime somebody is alone on a flight it makes the front page of Reddit. Yet the same thing in a car feels completely normal (it is "normal" in the sense that it represents maybe 90% of all car trips; but it should be very shocking).
At least in Europe, because of the rather restricted parking space, it makes a lot of sense to really think about the needs. I use a small car to drive to work in the city which will soon be replaced by an even smaller electric car, because usually it is only me and one daughter in it.
My wife, in comparison, has a 7-seater Minivan. Its outside dimensions are still smaller than a BMW 3-Series (except height) which is used every day with at least 4 seats filled, often 5 or 6. Due to its relative compactedness, it still fits into all parking spaces.
We really gave a lot of thought into which cars we have. There was the initial impulse to spend good money on an SUV, too. But then, after rational thinking, we did not take that path.
The article talks about trying to fulfill all requisites for all the vehicle buyers. A bike indeed a fast, safe commute vehicle in many cases. On snow conditions, a lightweight vehicle with winter tires will be better than anything else. In that case, forget the bike!
That's exactly my point. I thought several times to switch to a motorbike in order to avoid the hassle of traffic, but in the end I decided to stick to car: in normal days, traffic is allievated enough by all the other lovely guys who decide to ride their (motor)bikes; on the worst days (snow), I'd be in a car anyway. I see no point in buying a motorbike just to avoid traffic if it gets useless exactly when I'd need it most!
A motorbike is expensive; an electric bike, depending on how you acquire it, isn't, and therefore you can have one in addition to a car. I built mine from a regular bike and a Chinese Bafang motor, and the cost was around €800 (excluding the bike -- an additional €350 if you need to buy one new).
Anytime somebody is alone on a flight it makes the front page of Reddit. Yet the same thing in a car feels completely normal (it is "normal" in the sense that it represents maybe 90% of all car trips; but it should be very shocking).