Well, after a planned (hah) rapid transit line in my city got killed by NIMBYs, I wouldn't disagree with the cruft part. Too many stakeholders and opinions, not enough doing.

I'd count the environmental reviews and community approval measures that are used by NIMBYs to torpedo projects broadly in with planning. One of the reasons that this guy advocates for buses (in addition to being cheap and effective), is that they aren't vulnerable to the same types of legal attacks that big construction projects are.