I wonder how true this is. Plenty of people seem to enjoy the city life. Though I suppose if they had to work from a small apartment they're already living in that could be unpleasant.
When commuters weren't riding the LIRR the LIRR was complaining about how they'd go out of business if people weren't riding it. We exist to ride transit, transit doesn't exist to get us where we want to go.
On the other hand public transit companies don't get excited at all if you miss work because the bus didn't show up. I ride the bus most days and fortunately I am near the end of the line because frequently we get a minibus instead of a bus and the minibus fills up leaving passengers abandoned on the side of the road. You have no voice, they don't care. Loyalty only gets you so far. People exit by taking their car. This video points out the complete lack of a customer service attitude that causes public transit to languish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3yXSD2O95E
If your car broke down at least your car dealer would pretend to care.
When public transit works well, you see it more as a network of fixed routes than as catching individual vehicles. You show up at a stop, and the system takes you close to your destination. If you miss a bus/tram/train, the next one is probably not too far behind. If you miss a connection, the system may suggest you another route.
The US is full of medium-density cities that don't work well. Population density is high enough that traffic gets bad if most people drive, but it's simultaneously low enough that public transit is only viable on most popular routes.
I had no problem with the reliability of the bus before the pandemic (got an electric bus instead of a minibus) but the bus company in Tompkins has never really recovered. For a while we had people advocating the Utopian idea of letting everybody ride the bus for free, it seems to have become a reality by accident because the fare collecting machines have broken and haven’t been fixed.
While the city core is certainly less busy (and many of my favorite restaurants have closed there), my home neighborhood (a streetcar suburb) is being revitalized. There are at least 5 new bars/coffee/food places that have opened up within walking distance and they seem to be doing healthy business.
“That’s all this is about. Your local government officials are pressuring CEOs to get butts in seats and your bosses want to walk around the office feeling like a God again watching their peons slave away in terrible conditions.”
Uuuuuugh the second point is so tired. But the first point is interesting… IF it’s true. Is there any evidence of this? Are local governments putting some kind of pressure on companies to go back to the office? I doubt there’s much to it, given the rest of this article turned out to be ranting.
the news didn't mention about pressure directly, but mayor and interest groups are happy about back-to-office.