[afiori]

for any random trip it is far more likely that the car will be a better choice, but likely trip choice is a power law with most trips focusing on few routes.

This to say that the purpose of trains is not to be better than cars at what car do, but rather to allow as many people as possible not to need a car for most trips.

Depending on how trips are distributed this can be anywhere from easy to impossible.

[alexwhb]

I think this is true in the US where everything is designed around the car, but not as true in Europe. Somewhere like Amsterdam it’s actually generally faster to ride a bike than anything else. Also for longer trips high speed rail can be significantly faster and cheaper. So I think it really depends on the city context.