provide year-round temperature control, dedicated hydroelectric power, and security in the case of a terrorist attack."

The last time I messed with an iPod it was not possible to directly copy a music file and play it. I had to use iTunes on windows or MacOS (or a barely working hack on *nix) to copy the file.

>>>it's all the overhead it takes to support the roadways.

Supporting railways has FAR more overhead. Laying the rails for one thing, and maintaining them. Second there's the lost time of having people standing-around waiting for the damn train. My boss spend 1.5 hours on his train commute; I only take 45 minutes. Waiting time == non-productive time. And finally because there's no station anywhere near most people homes (I have to walk an hour to get to my station), you have to figure out how to get the people to the train, which is even more overhead to add to the trains' cost.

If trains were a priority his 1.5 hour amount of time spent would be reduced. This argument is moot it is essentially the chicken in the egg. If we never build the infrastructure you end up with a broken system like ours where BART only services ~20 (if that) stops instead of the whole bay area. Secondly, he has the potential to work on the train. I hope for the sake of the other drivers you aren't working while you are racing along the highway. Over time your 45 minutes and his 1.5 hours would converge and he would have more time to work (if that is your priority). Lets ignore the difference in stress riding a train/shuttle and driving yourself. I ride a shuttle for 2 hours a day and I think if I had to drive in the traffic out here day in and day out I would go insane! Instead I work, read books or even sleep during that time. Wasted time is just completely incorrect. I won't even go into how ridiculous it is to compare your boss's commute to yours, what about the people that live right next to the train station?