Not sure I agree that Asia is somehow experiencing a massive modal shift away from public transit to cars.I like my cars. And people that attack them really don't understand how much most car owners would despise joining the sweating masses and sit cheek by jowl on a bus. There is a reason that SE Asia is buying more cars of late. The people that live there really DON'T want to ride on buses or trains to get to work.
And I don't think that an idiot saying that "the 95% of Americans" should have to live in a lower level life style is a winning argument.
And yes, he is an Urbanist D!ckhead.
Just my two cents.
The rule of price + time is universal. People will generally take the fastest and cheapest travel to their destination, regardless of who they have to travel with.
This shift you claim is definitely not evident to me in Hong Kong.