I loved this article when I first read it years ago. Of course people like Musk or the neolib PMC think that gutting buses and LRT in favor of a fleet of autonomous cars. They literally don't have the capacity to think beyond themselves, or at least a critical mass of PMC can't summon up enough empathy to think about how urban policy affects the poor and dispossessed.
It's glib, but it would go a long way if everyone responsible for managing or directing transit policy had to use the actual existing transit for a year prior to being on whatever committee or department oversees it for daily tasks - and then were banned from driving or being in a private car for a lifetime after their appointment. Then all of a sudden we might get some good policy and material improvement in a hurry instead of austerity or 10 to 16 year projects to expand a bus line.
You're right, bit I'm not sure about your definition of PMC. All of the urban planners that spent their lives studying and becoming professionals push hard for good public transit policy. These are the people actually planning and giving the research surrounding good holistic tranist plans. They would definitely be PMC, but get overruled by the government officials. Anyway I guess I'm notallpmc-ing your post.
