[mothballed]

I've lived in a couple places with public transit way faster and more efficient than cars.

But because it's public, people can't be easily kicked off. Once I was caught between a knife fight; another time a schizophrenic person started to aggressively trap me in the corner while going on an increasing paranoid tirade.

Not long after that I bought a bicycle.

[jeffbee]

A bicycle is pretty much always going to beat a bus over reasonable distances, on performance alone, not even counting the crazy people.