Definitely part of the problem but also definitely not the full story. E.g. in Britain plenty of people cycle despite the terrible infrastructure and hills.
Besides, now we have electric bikes and e-scooters so hills shouldn't really be a barrier.
> E.g. in Britain plenty of people cycle despite the terrible infrastructure and hills.
Of course it's not the full story! I'm not claiming that zero cycling happens here in Britain.
> Besides, now we have electric bikes and e-scooters so hills shouldn't really be a barrier.
Now, yes. But cultural development takes a while, and those options are just much more expensive anyway. The Netherlands has about the ideal case for cycling, and - awesomely - they took advantage of that 50 years ago, so if it works anywhere it should work there today, after 50 years of planning and development and culture. Suddenly introducing e-bikes in 2024 isn't going to do much compared to flat country and 50 years of development.
Besides, now we have electric bikes and e-scooters so hills shouldn't really be a barrier.