This is the most convoluted bullshit ever.

Sorry to burst your tortured made up anecdote, but taxis exist.

"15 minute drive" at rush hour. My man could walk.

This entire comment could be summarized by "butbutbut people who live in areas with shitty public transport have to drive"

We already know this. The point is to make it better, because good public transport is better for literally everyone. I live on the edge of town, and I'm 5 minutes from 7 bus stops for 5 different bus lines, and a train station. Most of those buses come every 10-15 minutes, and are up to 5 minutes late at rush hour. It is by far a better experience to take the bus than to drive for me.

Since we're making up stories...

A man in a place with bad public transit gets the call that his mother has been in a car accident and is being rushed to the hospital at 8AM. Since it's rush hour, he spends the next two hours stuck in gridlock traffic (bad traffic today, something about a big car accident...). He doesn't make it in time for her last goodbyes.

In contrast:

A man in a city with a good public transport goes to work easily and there is minimal traffic. His mom doesn't get hospitalized because there are fewer cars on the road and the streets are designed for pedestrian safety.

or

His mom gets to the hospital more quickly because there is less traffic. She survives.

or

He runs (or bikes) to the hospital within 20 minutes because he lives close to it in a dense neighborhood without endless sprawl caused by parking lots and cars.

or

He gets to the hospital quickly via an efficient transit route since there are many routes going to a hospital because... it's a hospital!

or

He calls a taxi that arrives quickly and gets him to the hospital in 1 hour because there is less traffic.

Also, in all these scenarios everyone in the society is wealthier and healthier due to spending less money on their cars and breathing less pollution. They all get to work quicker because of less traffic congestion.

This is why people want better public transit.

Omg. Let's argue a once in a lifetime situation and use it as the reasoning for people driving daily let alone the whole environment point the ad is about.

I take the bus to work almost every day. I have a choice of three bus routes that work for me, one of which runs every 15 minutes. The one I take runs every 30. The only time they have been behind schedule was during a blizzard, but I got an alert on my phone about it.

No one has ever slowed down everyone else while fumbling for change because the busses are fare-free.

Public transportation can work, but we have spent the last 80 years developing a culture of individual car ownership so that we haven't prioritized making public transportation that works for the people.

I know you're trying to say the opposite, but what I'm thinking of when reading your comment, is that more money should be invested in building better infrastructure to make buses and trains more reliable. Like 90% of the traffic hindering the buses is made up of cars. With less cars, more people could ride buses, trains etc. and people could ride a lot more frequently. People shouldn't have to fumble through their purses, because busrides should be mostly free.

The answer to these problems is just better public transport... buses coming more often. Problem solved. No need to resort to individualised transport because public doesn't run often enough.

wouldn't you just take a taxi/uber in such an emergency situation?

Also, buses don't exist in a vacuum, and PT can easily be faster than cars. Think of metros in the city, dedicated bus lanes on congested roads, and bicycle paths to stations and stops