I've never been to Europe, so I can't really compare transit systems over there to those in place here. What I have observed, especially in the western U.S., is that public transportation is not an efficent means of getting around. In my city, the busses run on what is known as a hub and spoke system. What that means is that busses run from downtown to outlying areas and back forcing riders to transfer from bus to bus at the central depot. Also, the bus will not necessarily drop you off anywhere near where you want to be. Riders are still faced with a long walk( not that having to walk is necessarily bad). The biggest problem is city design, especially areas built after WWII. There is very little east-west mobility in my hometown, forcing drivers onto relativley few arterial roads which were designed around 1950's traffic volume levels. One thing I will never understand though is why people choose to live as far as possible from their jobs. The vast majority of new housing development in Colorado Springs is on the extreme east side of town while most employers (high tech anyway) are on the west side. In my view, people who choose to do this deserve the problems they create for themselves, This is why I ride. An interesting idea being tried here is urban renewal and co housing communities. I don't believe this would be a solution for everyone, as out west we tend to enjoy our privacy and space, but is a sound concept nonetheless. The only problem is in it's implementation. These developments are priced way out of the reach of the average person and therefore are not selling very well. Make it more affordable, and it may catch on.