In Europe, people make 33 percent of their trips by foot or bicycle, compared with just 9.4 percent of Americans' trips.
This isn't really a fair comparison though, to be honest. No matter where I've lived in Europe, it's been easy to get almost anywhere I want to go by walking. In the U.S., the only time it was realistically possible to bike or walk everywhere was when I lived in cities. When I was in a small towns - either in Texas or Wisconsin - it was much more difficult. In Wisconsin I would often walk back from school, about two miles from my home, but to do that up and down hills with groceries and no sidewalks? No - I wouldn't have done that. Plus, the grocery store was a small town one that only supplied the basics. The closest large grocery store was 17 miles away. My job was either five miles using a busy highway, or three miles hike through the woods. I did the hike in summer, but in winter, no. As for the highway - it was known for being dangerous for people biking or walking. I did do it when I had to, but usually I relied on my parents for rides. My nearest movie place was a half an hour drive away. Nearest coffee shop? 45 minutes drive. Nearest shopping mall? 1 hour, 15 minutes drive.
As for Texas - I literally lived on the foods I could get from the gas stations when I lived on North Padre Island. The nearest grocery store was a two and a half hour bike ride away on very busy roads including a long bridge with not much room for bikes on the shoulder. It just wasn't practical. I road my bike to work and back when I was there, but leaving the island with it? No. That was the one time in my life when I've actually wanted to own a car.
America is big and everything is quite spread out. Take, for instance, the difference between my and Steve's attitude when it comes to driving somewhere. When we lived in Holland we did a trip out to some monkey place near the border with Germany. The total driving for the day was something around 4-6 hours. Steve was exhausted by the time we got home and said he didn't like doing "long trips" like that. For me, as an American, having to drive 2 to 3 hours to get somewhere.... it's nothing. When the average time it takes to get anywhere by driving is 20 minutes or more, that means you would be doing, at minimum, an hour of walking or 40 minutes biking. That may not sound like much, but when you add that onto working an eight hour working day, plus time for meals, hanging out with family and friends, etc. Well, would you take 2 hours out of your day walking somewhere and carrying something back, plus whatever time you spend at the place you've walked to, when you've already worked all day? Add on to that, people usually do their trips on the way home from work in the U.S. Would you drive all the way home from work only to turn around and walk halfway back to do your grocery shopping? My mom worked 23 miles from home - a very short commute - and the large grocery store was something she literally had to drive past on her way home. It was closer to her work than to home, so of course, she made it part of her trip.
The comparisons between walking and biking for Europeans vs Americans simply isn't applicable. Differences in distances, the complete difference in infrastructure, etc etc. It's like comparing apples and asparagus.