It's seems like the "getting to the station takes ten minutes" problem is easily solved with things like the Segway, if people could be expected to actually ride them.
A remarkable number of engineer/entrepreneurs have sprung up attempting to offer devices that solve it. Here are some highlights of what I've found:
Segway: easy to ride and reasonably fast, but expensive, and worse, much too heavy (100 lb) to pick up and take on a train.
YikeBike folding electric bicycle: looks not too hard to ride; a little slow, perhaps, at 15 mph. A technological marvel (anti-lock brakes!) but correspondingly expensive ($2000 for the 31 lb model, $3800 for the 24 lb carbon fiber model).
Conscious Commuter folding electric bicycle: this is a very nice-looking design whose development was recently funded on Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1585753369/folding-elect...). No specs yet, but looks extremely promising.
Trikke EV: a very creative design. Looks fun to ride, but a little heavy for this purpose (38 - 46 lb depending on model) and not particularly fast (13 - 16 mph).
Metroboard electric skateboard: reasonably fast (20 mph) and extremely light (~20 lbs depending on model). I have one of these and it's an impressive piece of engineering and fun to ride, but it does require substantial athleticism and, uh, a certain risk tolerance. Not a mass market product.
If those aren't exotic enough for you, a number of people are working on self-balancing electric unicycles (!!).
The big problem with all of these though is they are all unpleasant in inclement weather and cold temperatures.
The other problem with conventional bicycles is that it's hard to go very far without getting sweaty -- depending on the weather, of course, and one's patience for riding slowly. It's nice to have power assist.
Folding bicycles can be compact enough to carry on any mass transit conveyance. The Metroboard is certainly quite compact and portable. Not sure about the Trikke.
You're right that weather can be a problem.
I ride a bike here in northern England. For two short rides of about 15-20 minutes each way, the chances of being rained on are pretty small; maybe ten times in a year? If you had a folding bike, then ten taxi rides on wet days might be a worthwhile yearly penalty.
And then a self-driving model :)
Reminds me of the Gyro-X, a gyroscopic car someone built in 1967. I still remember reading about how the car could be made to stay perfectly vertical in turns, or even lean outward.
Non-existing problem. Walk. For two miles, use a cheap bike. Done.
Yes, the climate may be harsh at times, but that Segway will have trouble in a foot of snow or in a monsoon, too.