Where did the freedom go Houston

In the book "The Cyclists Manifesto", Robert Hurst says "Through the twin stepmothers of congestion and control-licensing, insurance, rules, signals, lanes, speed traps, etc-our motorized steeds have been broken, hamstrung." He is talking about how the car, which used to be the symbol of freedom, has become the exact opposite.

And now a subculture is rising that finds freedom from the oppression of congestion and big government by dumping the car and hooking up with the cycle.