[njarboe]

Most people prefer individual transport systems for many good reasons. "Induced demand" is just more people using new roads because they get to do what they need/want to do. If we build enough roads (maybe using tunnels underground, a la The Boring Company) for everyone to go where they want, when they want, with up to 40 tons of cargo with them, there won't be any traffic congestion. This happened when the interstates were first built in the US and we could have that again if we decided to build thousands of miles of new tunnels. That would be a true national infrastructure project that would make everyone's lives much better. Sitting in traffic is a scourge on humanity. These tunnels could also have buses and groups of buses (trains?) in them for people who would rather travel with strangers, following a schedule set by someone else, and not carrying many objects with them. Could constructing this system also be called large-scale investment in public transportation then we could get everyone on board? Win-win solutions in society are still possible I hope.

[bluGill]

individual transport vs shared is a matter of compromise. Human drivers only go fast (when there is no congestion the autobahn with no speed limit doesn't in practice move any faster than US freeways for the majority of users of each). Trains today have the ability to go faster than human drivers. Trains carry far more people than cars. Thus replacing most trips with train trips would be faster and cheaper for most people.

Note that I said most trips there. If you don't have a system useful enough that most people use it most of the time then people still need cars to get around and that changes the calculation. it can be very hard to get there.