Love it. This visual really is worth a thousand words.

WOW.

this is stupid. if we are going to assume we need 60 cars to transport 60 people to "60 unique locations simultaneously" then we would need 60 buses to transport those 60 people to 60 locations. But if we are to assume that people can ride the bus and wait for their stop, then why cant we assume those people would want to car pool as well? 4 people per car means we need 15 cars...far less then the 60 pictured. also cars and buses provide for far greater distances then bikes and greater cargo room thus this is not a fair comparison...this is classic first stage thinking and not questioning this photo....

If you constantly need to travel a great distance to the point you need a car, that is kind of part of the problem.

Keep in mind, that is a image by a planning office in a big city. Part of planning a city well is avoiding situations where a person has to have a car just to do basic tasks, which is inefficient as hell.

Um, how about the space required to transport 60 people who are walking? I mean, this is an urban core we're looking at, right?

Um, sure, maybe one bus can carry 60 people, but let me tell you, this infographic isn't going to convince people to take that bus. Why? Carrying 60 people on your typical city bus means that about a fourth of them will have to stand, since the typical city bus seats 44. I take a bus every morning that carries 60 people, plus some on heavy days. It is FAR from a pleasant experience. With 15-16 people standing, the standers have no wiggle room, and so people who are sitting are invariably jabbed by the standers' elbows and bags and doused by their wet umbrellas. And on hot days, all those standers are more, um, aromatic, on account of their armpits being more exposed. And if the riders have things to carry, like groceries or a suitcase, then forget fitting 60 people on the bus. I think 45-50 would be a more reasonable number than 60 for a city bus, if you're hoping to convince anyone.

So if we use 60 for the number of people you can smoosh onto the bus, then the proper comparative number of cars is more like 12, since you can squeeze 5 people into a typical sedan.

Yeah but how many burlap bags would we need to transport 60 kittens?

@Trish, your car pooling point is actually a really great idea for another comparison because if you realistically put 4 people (5 is pushing it) in each car then yes it would make a nice visual argument against single passenger trips. The poster is not refuting that point. Just common space requirements for each mode. This brings me to my second point:

@dphil and Trish --- your objection is well taken, but only if you ignore the fact that it is based on most "efficient" use, not common use - which is almost never the case in terms of inner-city commuting via car. 60 people going in the same direction happens all the time, if it wasn't you wouldn't have gridlock issues. Moreover the number of single occupant vehicles is more common than you seem willing to acknowledge. How many people just going to work every day really need the full cargo capacity of their car? Not many I'm sure.

But how often is a city bus really full to capacity? Only during rush hour, and only on some lines.