The way to fix public transport is to make rich people want it.

I think the selling point might be heavier commuter rail, something like the network in Chicago. Make it a bit more luxurious feeling and give it a modern image, but the speed is probably not the issue.

Sell the dream of living by a walkable suburb an hour out of downtown. You can get on the train at 7:45AM, unfold your laptop, and by the time you've arrived, you've already done all the first-of-the-day paperwork and are relaxed and ready for the actual productive day. Come 5PM, you can just unwind in the coach, rather than devote your remaining energy for the day to steering a two-tonne death machine.

No worries about a breakdown blocking the freeway, a road-rage incident ruining your day, or being blocked by a snow-in.