> I can get a bus to downtown Pittsburgh a block away from my house, but I'll almost always drive

Pittsburgh's bus system is definitely not the most timely or reliable of bus systems I've used, but I have the opposite experience here: parking is a huge pain, drivers can be insane, and I'd much rather sit on the bus reading Hacker News on my phone (or whatever). Maybe not for the occasional Costco trip but definitely anywhere in the East End.

Granted, (i) I also have an unlimited bus pass via CMU (sunk costs work both ways!), and (ii) I'm close to several frequent routes (in Squirrel Hill). If I had to pay each time and buses were less frequent I'd probably be thinking like you are.

In any case, OP's two-hour number seems pretty off-putting. Agreed that time is an important consideration at that scale :-)