Yeah I’m a tad confused at why it’s weird to measure by time. If I’m trying to get somewhere deep in the city vs on highway traffic the whole time vs something in between the two, the same distance will give you radically different times to traverse it.
It’s also useful to give other people time estimates. Isn’t it more useful to tell your boss that you’ll be 15 minutes late versus the distance away in miles or kilometers? How about when you’re a guest arriving at someone’s house? Isn’t it more logical to tell them you’re 30 minutes from arrival as opposed to giving them the exact distance away in km or mi, especially when they might not know whether you’re arriving from a high traffic area or not?
There is a lot you can criticize the US for and it would be totally valid. This one is bizarre and unwarranted.