Bus + train is much faster than Uber, for example in NY. You’d take an Uber in order to have the luxury of riding alone or with a small group instead of a crowd

Bus + train is much faster than Uber, for example in NY. You’d take an Uber in order to have the luxury of riding alone or with a small group instead of a crowd, or because you have a large suitcase, but absolutely not because it’s faster. This is no different than the same tradeoff for taxis. And the context of this subthread is about Uber as a full solution for commuting. So my original claim still holds. If things like always riding alone or always transporting luggage are impacting your daily commute decision and making you believe that paying the premium for Uber is cost effective, then necessarily it’s even more cost effective for you to buy and maintain your own car, and satisfy those unusual commute preferences in a way that amortizes the costs of operating your own car even in a dense urban area.