But that's fine, no need to convince them to use mass transit.

The approach is to improve infrastructure - good buses, frequent routes, dedicated bus lanes, trains to feed from the suburbs, subway, etc.

Make it more convenient to use, and people will start using it. But you need to stop designing everything around cars, like every single store can't be a cube in the middle of a huge parking lot...

You might meet immigrants and poor people there. THE HORROR!!!!

People get weirdly anti social about public transit. Like, "I don't want to have to be around other people!!"

Sometimes it's racism. Sometimes it's just... anti social.

Personally I think anti-social people can go leave society, and the rest of us can build a better, more cooperative world.

I’ve found that a lot of people see the use of public transport as horrors beyond comprehension,

Depending on where you are, this can be just an accurate observation.

I would bet a lot of that is unfamiliarity. “I don’t know where the route is or how to get to the bus or what the schedule is or how long I have to wait or whether I’ll be able to get home at a reasonable time or how I can pay. “

Some of this is part of infrastructure. Yes, in the US buses are unpredictable, always seem delayed, and it’s tough to figure out where they go. Yes there aren’t very many and service can end early, and schedules tend not to be posted. Sometimes the payment system is one that rare riders won’t be familiar with.

At least some of the time subways are a “more acceptable” form of transit and I believe it’s the predictability, better signage, you can spend time figuring out the fare machine without being on the spot for delaying the transit. Subways even have the reputation of running more frequently than buses. These are all things bus transit could have too

For me, even being familiar with transit near me, it was much easier when I rode often enough to get a monthly pass rather than deal with fare paying

That seems to be highly dependent on where they are.

In some cities, everyone on public transport behaves themselves. They're clean and there's no fear that they'll be harassed or assaulted. Some people really like that and get afraid or skeeved when they think about some public transport systems.

In other cities public transportation riders are expected to "live and let live". Officials won't stop you from doing anything unless it presents an imminent danger. Some people love the freedom from that sort of system and hate the idea of someone forcing them to behave a certain way.

There are, of course, many reasons why certain public transport systems are more like one than the other; money, age, geography, preferences, etc. While there are great arguments for public transportation and I'm a huge fan of improving the infrastructure around it, I can also recognize that a lot of people's actual experience of public transport doesn't paint it in a good light.