MTA does have a lot of work to do, and has itself to blame for many of its problems, including the fact that they continue to expand highway capacity with "auxiliary lanes" and "safety" improvements; projects that are really just adding lanes in disguise. Remote work continues to have removed many folks from the roads, but the roads are full, because former transit riders have now chosen to use the excess capacity for themselves.

People will continue to prefer to drive as long as it is heavily subsidized through free roads and cheap or free parking. If political leaders and transportation planners want the public (usually not themselves) to shift to more sustainable modes of travel, they are going to have to take the unpopular position making it cost more (in time and money) to drive - in addition to offering better service (which is hard to do when not enough are riding - can't say how many times I've been the only passenger of a bus in the past months). The "crime problem" (to the extent that it actually exists and isn't just media hysterics) is partly the result of fewer folks on transit. In the meantime, every bit of additional road capacity reduces transit use by travelers that have a choice, ensuring transit is only for the folks that don't have a choice.