That's simply not true where I live. Using gmaps, he's the results for my own commute: Car: 22-35 minutes Public: 28 minutes screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/jlL

That's simply not true where I live. Using gmaps, he's the results for my own commute: Car: 22-35 minutes Public: 28 minutes screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/jlLHiqw.png http://i.imgur.com/jlLHiqw.png (edited for anonimity) This commute is actually very car friendly because most of the route is done on a highway; most people live closer so they don't benefit from that, it's just that the train simply travels faster than cars do inside the city. There's a reason most of the population commutes using bicycles and public transport rather than cars. Your worldview seems to be tainted by the belief that public transports have to be slower than cars for some reason, despite them having dedicated paths (metro and train tracks). You just live in a place with bad public transportation.