a64- I would dare make only one assumption about public transportation in the but cities in the US: It is going to crash. Consider
NYC, where under Bloomberg the city launched a major program to "streamline traffic flow" and increase bicycle lanes. Result? Roads that were 3 lanes became 2. Roads that were major alternates, became useless 2-lane roads. Four lane roads got wide medians, making them into one lane each way, passing became impossible. Two way streets became one-way, making it necessary to drive 8 blocks to go "around the block" once. And in midtown Manhattan? Places where you could once circle the block (if you missed an entrance or made a wrong turn) you now have to drive 10-15 blocks further down before you can make a left turn across traffic, and of course that fara again to come back. Making "around the block" a mile-long detour on heavily trafficked streets.
Florida? Broward County planners openly said they're going to make motorists "feel the pain" until they will pay for public transportation, they are intentionally going to make driving more painful. And in order to make bicyclists happy (bicycling being physically impossible for the elderly in hot humid weather) they take away lanes on roads that are already 100% and more over capacity. Hmmm...Meanwhile, the buses stop IN the traffic lane because it costs too much to cut bus stops into the curbs. And of course, subways aren't possible even if you could fund them. In contrast there's Portland(?) where they've added light rail on the streets and the public has embraced it. But by and large, the big cities are well over planned capacity, and there's no way that public transportation can be improved--until they start reducing population density. Accommodating oddball vehicles into the mix? Not too likely. Mixing bikes and other slow vehicles into auto traffic just guarantees a high delta-vee when the two do collide, and as a pilot you can appreciate what that's going to accomplish. Same thing when you put wheeled stuff on the sidewalks. Self-driving cars (which will drive better than most currently licensed drivers) and the proposed V2V system (if they build it securely and it doesn't get hacked, ha) may help, but there's still only so much that can do. That "last mile" is the tail that wags the dog, and it will continue to do so.
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