[Porsche-O-Phile]

Absolutely true. This region is in dire need of a viable mass-transit system. And by "viable" I do not mean just throwing more city buses at the problem. Nobody rides them - they take too long to go anywhere (other than highly local) and they unfortunately will always suffer from a "low class" stigma no matter how clean and nice they're made. It's part of the culture, unfortunately and it'll be decades to change that image - far too long a time frame to fix any problems today or be part of a solution in the short to intermediate term.

Rail is the way to go IMHO. But there's no way the governments here can afford it anymore. Way, way too expensive and the state is way too over-extended as it is. I don't see any easy solution to this one.