I can't speak for the whole country but having lived most of my life around dense parts of California I'd choose dealing with fighting traffic over the dregs on public transit every single time. I still distinctly remember back when I'd take the the bus to the local community college for my pre-transfer credits where a few times I had to intervene to help women who were being harassed. And that's just one problem type! It's not counting all the other enjoyable public transit experiences like when I'd stand for the entirety of my bus ride because the only open seats were beside some junkie mumbling erratically or even sometimes inaccessible because a hobo had brought a literal sack of trash to fill the space beside them.