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>None of them say they prefer to sit on the bus for an hour instead of a 30 minute drive

Nobody suggested this. The point is that when public transit is effective, it becomes more attractive because of the cost savings relative to owning a car. In the absence of effective public transit, commuters will still tend to buy cars regardless of the expense because they don’t have a good alternative.

From my experience in Berlin it’s more like sitting 20 minutes in the underground, instead of 30 minutes sitting in the car if you include finding a parking lot.

i do. on the bus i can read, reply to messages or even sleep. if i had a car, i'd have to pay attention to traffic.

it's half an hour wasted vs an hour doing something productive.

greetings, eMBee.

If driving means being home with your kids 30 minutes earlier, then being productive on the bus means absolutely nothing in comparison. Besides, I like to listen to podcasts/audio books while driving, so it's not completely wasted time.