[thaumasiotes]

> in most European cities (and I don’t know Tokyo but I believe it’s the same), mass transit is much faster than driving, including walking, escalators, and elevators.

This is not the case in Shanghai. Driving is a lot faster.

The big difference is that driving lets you plan your own route between your origin and destination, whereas if you take mass transit, (a) you have to follow whatever the existing route is; and (b) you're constantly starting and stopping at the intermediate points on the route, making for low average speed.

I don't believe either of those points vary in other cities.

[bombcar]

The biggest speed advantage for driving is the same as biking or walking - you can begin the trip at any time.

Even a subway with a five minute headway is going to burn waiting time or be incredibly precisely scheduled.

The subway will beat driving during the rushiest of rush hours but off peak the car will win unless it’s literally prohibited.

[shiroiushi]

>The subway will beat driving during the rushiest of rush hours but off peak the car will win unless it’s literally prohibited.

This assumes there's a place to park at or near your destination. In dense cities, this normally isn't the case. However, here in Tokyo this makes taxis quite fast most of the time, because there's not much car traffic, and the taxi doesn't need parking and can drop you right at your destination.

[thaumasiotes]

> The biggest speed advantage for driving is the same as biking or walking - you can begin the trip at any time.

This just isn't true. For example, it takes a bit over two hours to take mass transit to the airport, but it takes a bit under one hour to make the same trip by taxi. The potential five minute wait for the train to arrive is a sideshow. The problem is the intermediate stops.

[bombcar]

I should have been precise - the biggest advantage for driving when the train is the same or faster.