I think buses are better than cars, for inter-city travel. Wikipedia's numbers are probably more relevant to transit buses (i.e. the ones local governments run, which are often empty). Greyhound doesn't run uneconomic routes.
the bicycle is one of the most efficient forms of transport... half the energy per unit distance of walking ... converts to about [there are 2 claims in wikipedia, 732 and 879 mpg]
I strongly suggest any hackers (aging and pot-bellied or otherwise) give long distance cycling a go: it's truly pleasurable and great for your brain! I spend much of my 20s doing this in foreign countries.
If you like to be boiled in the summer and frozen in the winter, not to mention having to cycle on icy roads with no shoulder and sixteen-wheelers bearing down on you.
Anyway, if you do cycle, please don't make a habit out of blowing past pedestrians at full speed, and think twice about riding on the sidewalks.
So they're justified in acting recklessly around me because others act recklessly around them? If it's that much of a problem, they should walk.