One could be forgiven for believing that part of the point of motorized vehicles is to shorten distances, make places far away seem closer, and to require less time to travel.

But sometimes the gap between expectation and reality is as wide as those modern streets that are so hard to cross.

On a recent trip to Hanoi, I talked to a woman who mentioned that she lives far out of Hanoi and thus plans to work from home, only coming in to the city when need be. When she told me where she lived, it brought back vivid memories of my experiences in 1995 when I used to travel to her part of town—what used to be a village—from the center of the city every Friday. It was about a 30-minute bike ride, immensely pleasant, the highlight of my week. I have no memories of any difficulties riding home again during rush hour Friday traffic. What she now cannot do by motorbike because the distance is too great, I used to do regularly and happily by bicycle. As for time, she told me that it takes at least 30 minutes, but during rush hour, can take one to two hours.

Similarly, on a Friday afternoon it took about an hour to reach by car a place I regularly used to cycle to, that took about half an hour by bike. The journey by car was miserable; the bike ride used to be a pleasure.

Traffic distorts distance in other ways: a very short trip can become difficult or impossible if a major road needs to be crossed. While walking in Hanoi, I try to run my errands all on one side of the street; even if the street is fairly narrow, I only cross in extreme circumstances.

And traffic distorts time. In Dhaka I prefer to work from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. so as to avoid crossing a major street to get to and from the office when it’s busy. The few times I have stayed till 10 p.m. I considered revising my schedule, as the two-block walk home is far pleasanter at that hour. As to traveling anywhere for meetings? Only if absolutely necessary.

So if motorized travel in cities can make distances greater, make trips take longer, and cause at least some people to engage in bizarre contortions to avoid facing traffic, just how exactly is the reliance on cars (and motorbikes) making our lives better?

Article written by: Debra Efroymson, Regional Director, HealthBridge in Bangladesh