In NYC, long commutes are common. For a long time, I've thought that 45 minutes is reasonable. An hour is long in my view, but I know people who commute over two hours each way. I hear that in your part of the country, it's uncommon to have long commutes. An hour is quite a burden for a high school kid. But they do it. I commuted 45 minutes each way to middle school and about 30 minutes to high school. The middle school commute required a subway and a bus. For high school, I could choose between a subway and a bus.

Yes, bike share bikes do have those advantages. They're really huge. I know some people who gave up their own bikes and use only Citi Bike for those reasons. One friend uses Velib' in Paris, their equivalent thing. And imagine choosing your mode on your return trip! You can ride Citi Bike to work and then at the end of the day see it's raining and say "skip it" and take the subway back home.