A bad commute in NYC can be pretty awful. Recently the first snow storm of the year led to catastrophic delays for NJ residents who had to drive. (I know someone who had to sit in their car for 13 hours for a normally 15 minute drive)

Many people commute by car to a park and ride and then by train and then by subway. Any delay anywhere in the system causes major downstream problems.

I think the parent was referring to how it feels like a dystopia for the time you are in it.

Sure, if you want to add the "in the US" qualifier that limits the comparison to areas that would have had to create a public transit system in spite of US policies favoring automobiles, then sure it's impressive. But compared to almost any reasonably-large city in Europe or many places in Asia, it's still an embarrassment.

If you want to see transit done right, go to Tokyo. People have sub-hour commutes of over 100 miles there. Everything is comfortable, clean and on-time. If we honestly want to make public transport succeed, we have to stop letting those in charge compare themselves to other failures and, instead, hold them accountable to operating at a level we know is being achieved elsewhere.