Fair point, but arguably that's a bit short term thinking. What if at the same time(driven by increased ridership) public transport improved to the point where it's not an extra hour, but instead about the same time or only slightly longer than driving?

I don't think most US cities would ever get to a point where public transport and bicycles are much faster for a lot of regular routes (like in some European cities), but the gap can be closed if there is political and financial support to improve the infrastructure.