> The view that public transit should have low farebox recovery is predominantly American and the opposite of the majority of successful public transit programs everywhere in the world.

Not unreasonable, but low farebox recovery (or "subsidies") may still be less expensive than building out roads/highways to handle various situations:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commuter_rail

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxWjtpzCIfA

The idea that roads are subsidized for commuters should also be considered:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congestion_pricing

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_price