Source: Kauffman, R.J. (2001) Paving The Planet: Cars and Crops Competing For Land, Alert, Worldwatch Institute.

Land Area Consumed by the Car in Selected Countries, 1999

Although Japan is the country among those selected that has the largest share of its territory devoted to road transportation (3.5%), it is Canada that allocates the largest amount of space per capita to the automobile (734 square meters per person), followed by the United States (573). While the percentage of total land area used by the car is an indication of density and economic intensity, area per capita figures are an indication of car dependency. The case of the United States is eloquent. About 155,000 square kilometers are reserved for car use, which equals to 10% of all the available arable land. Even if total area values are relatively small, roads and parking facilities are dominantly concentrated in urban areas.