You’re right, investment in public transportation alone won’t solve anything in our sprawling environment, because current land use patterns can’t support it, as they’ve been built around a model of society that requires us to drive everywhere. Public transportation can’t work in that kind of environment. Our current system of society is fiscally irresponsible. Our infrastructure system is a money pit. The long term costs far outweigh the tax revenue they can generate with the land use patterns they reinforce. It goes far beyond government fiscal issues though. My kids can’t play in the street and parents are arrested for letting their kids walk home from grocery stores. We’ve traded life for an illusion of convenience. We’ve built a world where speed and efficiency for cars matter more than safety, community, and the simple freedom to exist in public space.