Nice post. Wow, the video of the looted packages from trains in LA is shocking. And that European high speed rail is amazing.

A public mass transit system sounds awesome. In SF Bay Area, the public voted to continue raising tolls on the bridges to encourage people to take public transportation. When I was a young girl, toll was $2. Now, it's almost $10. So a mass transit system would only support what people seem to be wanting anyways, at least here in California.

Unfortunately, Marin County voted no to expanding BART (the transit system for the whole SF Bay Area) to their territory because of fears that it might bring in homeless and sketchy people that could likely result in crime. I've seen people shoot down the idea of expanding transit systems for this reason, sadly. Yet I think there's so much promise and opportunity in what you're saying. And it could still support the 15 minute city idea while also allowing people to adventure and expand out to other cities.