> basically unreachable by public transport, or bus that goes 2x a day on some days of the week.

This sentence is hilarious from an American perspective. There are central business districts of major US cities that are less connected to public transit than the most remote rock at the end of a steep canyon in Switzerland.

A bus that ran 1x a day on any day of any week would be a drastic improvement for nearly all of the US.

Its not mutually exclusive - most of the world thats not in stone age has better public transport than US, I guess everybody knows that and its not by accident but for good (well bad but logical) reasons.

That some PT is still not covering somebody's full needs for long term living is understandable too I presume, especially if its few days gaps in service.