Public transport will grow from the trunk line, which is essentially what High Speed Rail becomes. The state of public transport and the car centric focus of the state is because the public infrastructure isn't there, rather than in spite of it.
> If you are not directly along the metro lines in LA and headed to a place that's also on the lines ( and the entire westside is a desert) you are driving
This is a problem with every type of transport. You still have to drive to the highway, to the airport, to intercity the bus station. You might see as 'burbs served well by the HSR become popular and developments form near them, that the stations become hubs for business and commerce.
> If you are not directly along the metro lines in LA and headed to a place that's also on the lines ( and the entire westside is a desert) you are driving
This is a problem with every type of transport. You still have to drive to the highway, to the airport, to intercity the bus station. You might see as 'burbs served well by the HSR become popular and developments form near them, that the stations become hubs for business and commerce.