Does rail time differ dramatically where you are? For me in los angeles, the frequency of train departures can vary, but other than that, it's pretty predictable.
It definitely does in NYC. The distance that you can get via car is significantly less than the distance you can cover via a number of different rail systems:
In all the rail cities I've been in, the distance/duration equation does not change based on when you leave.
Travel time is effectively constant.
This article was about what constitutes rush hour and how it mutates travel time.
For rail, it looks like the answer is "there isn't really a rush hour and it doesn't change things".
Or does it? I've certainly had to pass on an overpacked train on the London Underground and on SF Bart. Also in Barcelona the path to leave some stations can be circuitous and get congested at times. I haven't been to Tokyo yet but I've heard stories...
In many places, rail travel at rush hour can be faster because of express trains. At off-hours the trains tend to stop at every station and take longer.
Obviously the data depends. But in places with a well-working train system, no matter what you do, the car is heavily inferior.
For example, Kiel-Berlin is 4 hours by car, assuming no traffic. Or around 1 hour 30 by train, which runs every 30 minutes. Getting to and from the station to any place in each city is another 30 minutes, in the worst case.
So the worst case scenario door-to-door train travel time is the same as the best case scenario door-to-door car travel time. And the comfort in a train is much nicer (so much leg space, and you can walk around, and eat stuff, and use a laptop nicely, just look at this: [1])
This is either a huge straw man, or I'm not understanding what you're getting at. The original article doesn't even delve into the specifics of each city, and there is a ton of nuance when it comes to getting around in NYC (which was my original point).
Depending on where you're leaving/coming from, a car can be a good option (no traffic, you live near the edge of Manhattan and get out of the borough quickly + hit little traffic once you leave) or horrible (I've taken cab rides that took nearly an hour completely inside of Manhattan).
My sole point was that, in certain situations around rush hour, a train departing from Grand Central or Penn Station can probably get you at least as far, if not farther, than a car could in the same amount of time. At certain times, you can even get from Penn to Philadelphia on the Acela in about 1h15m!
Consider that it's very rare that people car commute into lower Manhattan in the first place (at least, compared to the USA average of car commuting), the whole premise and investigation is a bit flawed. The majority of garages in that area don't park your car in a spot that is immediately accessible, so you could even wait 20 minutes (or call ahead) just to be able to start your car and drive away!
