A small nuance is that car sharing is usually better than taxis. A taxi is driving around empty around half the time and has an average occupancy below 1.0. With car share, all the mileage involves moving people to places
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See, the problem with reversing the pyramid, primarily for societies addicted to cars, is that even if all infrastructure was changed to make things the most safe for cyclists and pedestrians, the damage to the mind of the average citizen has to considered as well. The lack of exercise, the lack of the ability to consider one's individual contribution to environmental pollution and the socioeconomic relationship people have with their private vehicles all have to be dealt as well in order for the outside world to need for such change.
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Nice. I've looked into this question fairly deeply and this seems fairly accurate.
Two things that people find counter-intuitive (or in the second case prefer not to think about):
- an intercity bus is usually greener than a high-speed train, even discounting energy source - mainly because speed carries a major efficiency penalty
- air travel is an unmitigated disaster on the level of personal carbon footprints - there's basically no way to make it sustainable
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