"The typical American male devotes more than 1,600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and searches for it. He earns the money to put down on it and to meet the monthly installments. He works to pay for petrol, taxes, insurance, tolls and tickets. He spends four of his sixteen hours on the road or gathering his resources for it...The model American puts in 1,600 hours to get 7,500 miles: less than five miles per hour."

- Ivan Illich, "Energy and Equity," 1973