I have visited Japan five times — I already know it’s very good and enjoy it very much whenever I’m there! Even as just a tourist though, I’ve observed shortcomings (Kyoto is an utter disaster in terms of transit lol) and I imagine as a local it would be more noticeable. Some of the examples I had in mind are the same as what Flyfell mentioned: transporting larger goods and getting farther out of the city. I suppose it depends on your personal tastes, but nature is quite important to me. Another important one is end of service time where many cities have their trains shut off not long after midnight, even on a weekend night.
There are also societal aspects that make the experience less desirable here too I think. As an example, NYC has relatively speaking good subway service (all night service too!), but I was shocked by how much noise disturbance and uncleanliness there was. Some better funding could make minor improvements sure, but I believe a lot of is just cultural differences and you can’t simply copy paste Japan over here.
To be clear, I still think public transit is great and we need better services everywhere. I just tire of the attitude I see in online spaces sometimes that it’s somehow a magic bullet without faults and nobody would ever possibly want a car.
I don’t think that’s anyone in this thread for the record, more of a general thought from say Reddit or Twitter.By the way, I’d be curious to know what country you’re from Flyfell — I don’t have too much experience with transit in Europe and wouldn’t mind learning more, I’ve only used it in Paris and Barcelona.
