Remember that the reason that there is no public transport or non-car options is because of the auto industry lobby. They have actively worked to eliminate rail and other means of public transit throughout North America and in every other country where they have a presence (e.g. Germany). The US used to have trains crisscrossing the entire nation. One of the few truly cross-country commuter lines that Amtrak still has is, fittingly, called the Empire Builder. Horrors of colonialism and imperialism aside, it’s a fitting name because trains really did build the US. They supplanted and replaced the Pony Express for delivering mail (and thus communication, something that older empires couldn’t manage) among so many other things, like freight and even livestock–and, of course, people.

Where’d they go? How come there are so few left? Ask GM, Ford, and so on.