Public transit yes, but how.

This article mentions the drop in commuter rail use as if it is a problem. It is not a problem. We should not be using rail to encourage sprawl. For many years suburban commuters got preference over urban bus riders. That should end.

U.S. cities are building commuter rail, so where are the riders? | SmartPlanet: "Commuter rail — which connects city centers with suburbs — had the smallest growth of any transit system in the U.S. at 0.5 percent., with 10 out of 28 systems actually losing riders."

In general, we should not be doing capital-intensive projects. Subways take people underground to allow cars to own the streets. People should be in the streets with free buses, and as need becomes apparent, light rail and/or trams. The U.S. streetcars were deconstructed by a combination of less-frequent service and replacement by buses. We need to go back via the same path. Make buses frequent and free, then you will see where to put rail.