I think it's also a cultural thing. Americans do _not_ like public transit. They'll tolerate it maybe (though they will complain about how taxes are too high, the transit itself costs too much, and how it's inconvenient).

If you are successful, if you're happy, you own a car and you drive. As a example, if you've lived in LA just imagine how humorous it would be if a successful person you meet at a party or dinner said "yup, I took the bus to get here".

Only the low income and undesirables are forced into using public transit. So station locations, and transportation that feeds into the public network will always be second or third tier.

In Japan they have the ridership and society generally thinks good thoughts about their public transit.