To begin with, I love cars. I live in cities so I can have a great lifestyle, and to take advantage of all the city has to offer. So you and I are sort of thinking along the same lines, but making a different choice--for different reasons.

I love cars so much that once we get this business profitable and I get enough income from it I will probably buy a convertible Bentley GT like this one:

http://images.paraorkut.com/img/pics/glitters/b/bently_-8712...

I am not sure if people who drive their own car vs. ride on a bus are doing it out of any having less of a tolerance for the fistfights or other social problems though. I think that the convenience (and for some the prestige) of driving is why people drive rather than it being a cost point or service issue. I do not think public transportation will ever --draw--people out of their cars. To me it’s comparing apples to oranges.

I love having a car and would really hate having to ride a bus or train. Although I do agree with you that public transit is lacking in some ways, in many places the cost is subsidized by the taxpayers to keep it affordable and it does serve to make life easier (and nicer) for people without a car.

In times past, trains used to have separate cars for 1st class, 2nd class and 3rd class. Maybe given the current political climate the cities would be hostile to allowing a separate bus service to operate in this manner. A separate bus service that would be viewed as superior to the buses serving the general population might be frowned upon by the cities and for that reason be impossible to get going. Plus, what would stop the same problem causing riders from occasionally riding the upscale bus and causing the same problems.