Not everyone wants to live stacked on top of one another like in many large cities. As a result, populations spread out and the population density decreases. As the population density decreases, the distances become too great for the system to be economically viable. Virtually all of the mass transit systems built over the past several decades have ended up being heavily subsidized in order to come close to breaking even.

In terms of land area, I've read that Colorado Springs is bigger than Chicago and San Francisco combined. There is a bus system here. I might be able to find a combination of routes that would allow me to make it the 18 miles each way to and from work. From what I've seen, I'd end up spending at least an hour in each direction and probably a lot more, compared to 25-30 minutes by car. Sorry, but I'm not willing to give up that much of my life each day in order to ride the bus. It appears not too many other people are, either. Ridership on the buses isn't very high and the city government has to kick in several million dollars a year to keep the system in operation. There's no way they could charge the riders what it actually costs or no one would ride the bus.

Find a way to make mass transit economically viable and you'll have the nation singing your praises. Indeed, you'd probably become quite wealthy and rightfully so. Unfortunately, virtually every mass transit scheme tried or proposed has ended up being a dismal failure economically. The goal is good but achieving it is very difficult. As long as people have the freedom to live where they want, they have to live with the consequences of their choices. My wife and I chose to live here so mass transit isn't a viable option. It sounds like the same applies to your family. You're always free to move somewhere like New York City where there's a lot of mass transit opportunities. Personally, I have no desire to live stacked up like firewood.