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let me introduce you to : http://bakfiets.nl/nl/modellen/cargobike/lang/

I dunno how people shop for a family on a bike.

My last haul from Costco consisted of a 55lb bag of dog food, two gallons of orange juice, four gallons of milk, various meats, and quite a lot of miscellany besides. Yes, on a bicycle. My trick? A trailer. Other folks do the same thing with a cargo bike (the Bakfiets and the Xtracycle are two well-respected designs).

People carry all kinds of crazy things on Xtracycles -- I've seen photos of people carrying ladders, planters, other bicycles, etc.

Cars are cheap because nearly everybody in this country needs a car. You need a car to get to work, you need it to get to school and you need it for recreation. Sure, if you happen to live in a major city there is also mass transit, but for a large percentage of the population a car is a necessary reality.

False dichotomy. I don't need a car to get to work, and the mass transit here sucks. I take the most efficient form of transportation available, which also happens to be one of the cheapest: a bicycle. My hilly 10-mile commute takes 40-45 minutes each way.

For groceries and other cargo (such as children), there's the bakfiets (and clones), xtracycle and bike trailers. People even bike in the rain and snow.

The auto manufacturers have done an impressive job making us believe that "everybody in this country needs a car".

Or drive much smaller vehicles.

A cargo bike plus an electric assist will carry a load of groceries and/or a kid or two, and will do it with a daily range that is depressingly competitive with a lot of the e-cars being discussed nowadays (i.e., 40 miles -- 20 in a day on a human-powered cargo bike is a no-brainer). Wouldn't necessarily work in the boonies, but lots and lots of people drive in places that where 20-40 miles per day, most days, is enough.

One hopes that I won't hear the same tired excuses about rain, snow, dark, ice, and locusts; you're not supposed to bike naked (NSFW). That's why we have fenders, raincoats, gloves, and snow tires. What mostly lacks is a place that feels safe enough to ride; what we have now probably IS safe enough, but it seems unsafe, so that's the end of it for most people.

Or maybe the problem is that you think bicycles are slow.

Or maybe you think you'll miss taking your SUV off-roading.

I love bike trailers but recently I've fallen in love with a Dutch export called a Bakfiets.Cargo Bike. (The proper "Box-Bike" in the Netherlands is actually a bigger Cargo Tricycle)

It's super convenient. My wife and I would have been miserable with our new baby if we didn't use this every second day. The only problem is cost, because it is imported from so far away. I'm thinking about making one myself though later this yearrusl.ca because we really need more of them around. (In Vancouver, bc)

This only answers the first charge, but:

http://www.bakfiets.nl/