This is either a huge straw man, or I'm not understanding what you're getting at. The original article doesn't even delve into the specifics of each city, and t

This is either a huge straw man, or I'm not understanding what you're getting at. The original article doesn't even delve into the specifics of each city, and there is a ton of nuance when it comes to getting around in NYC (which was my original point). Depending on where you're leaving/coming from, a car can be a good option (no traffic, you live near the edge of Manhattan and get out of the borough quickly + hit little traffic once you leave) or horrible (I've taken cab rides that took nearly an hour completely inside of Manhattan). My sole point was that, in certain situations around rush hour, a train departing from Grand Central or Penn Station can probably get you at least as far, if not farther, than a car could in the same amount of time. At certain times, you can even get from Penn to Philadelphia on the Acela in about 1h15m! Consider that it's very rare that people car commute into lower Manhattan in the first place (at least, compared to the USA average of car commuting), the whole premise and investigation is a bit flawed. The majority of garages in that area don't park your car in a spot that is immediately accessible, so you could even wait 20 minutes (or call ahead) just to be able to start your car and drive away!