[mcpackieh]

Even when you don't have the last mile problem, mass transit is much slower than a car. I can take light rail to the airport, getting to and from each train station on foot only takes a minute or two, but the train ride itself is 50+ minutes whereas the same journey with a car is about 20 minutes.

This is downtown Seattle to SeaTac I'm talking about, in case anybody wants to dispute this. Your starting point and destination can both be right on top of train-stations and cars still beat it easily because cars don't stop at a dozen train stations in between.

This said, I still use the light rail when I'm not in a hurry because it's pleasant. But there is absolutely a convenience price to pay with mass transit. Going anywhere takes longer in almost all circumstances, even when you account for traffic slowing cars down.