"except when I live 20 miles from work and the public transit system has no regular schedule that will suit my needs"
That right there is the vicious cycle that has brought us to the mess we're in today. The answer is not to keep feeding the monster of urban sprawl with bigger and faster roads to encourage even longer hellish commutes by car. The answer is to encourage mixed developments where a majority of people live close to the business centers and have short commutes (so a mix of public transit/biking/walking is practical for most people).
I don't want my commute distance to limit my employment opportunities.
I can't envision a day where I personally would be capable of lugging my day's supplies on a bike 20+ miles (each way!), nor where it's practical to take public transit. Nor do I want to only be limited to working in areas my local public transit serves.
This ideal you have just isn't realistic for an awful lot of people. Especially those not living in the large metropolitan areas.
the idea that 200 pound bags of flesh need to be ferried around by tonnes of steel, massive swathes of land devoted to letting them rest nearby while we remain in the destination, and the entire landscape designed to let them roam around is insanity.
edit: also, the majority of people don't own cars.
That right there is the vicious cycle that has brought us to the mess we're in today. The answer is not to keep feeding the monster of urban sprawl with bigger and faster roads to encourage even longer hellish commutes by car. The answer is to encourage mixed developments where a majority of people live close to the business centers and have short commutes (so a mix of public transit/biking/walking is practical for most people).