Anecdotal evidence in favor of transit aiding mobility of (selfish) car drivers

JOHN COSTELLO / Inquirer Staff Photographer. A police officer directs traffic at 15th and Vine Streets. Police said that traffic was worse yesterday than on Monday, when many people may have taken the day off for Halloween.

SEPTA strike is over -- Philadelphia Inquirer

This article from last Wednesday's Philadelphia Inquirer, "Crush hour: SEPTA talks resumed, but commuters face more long rides and short tempers", had this to say:

Brian Fischer, 22, of Upper Darby, had been among those trying to figure out what time to leave. A Center City accountant, he usually takes the Market-Frankford El, which gets him to his office at 2 Penn Center in 15 minutes, he said. Yesterday, he left home at 7:15 a.m. and got to work at 8:40. So when did traffic get bad? "As soon as I turned off my block, there were cars all backed up on 69th Street," he said...He plans to drive as long as there is a strike, but the cost of parking - $13 a day - hurts.

This article (Tuesday), "Commuters tell their tales of woe" had this example:

Tahirah Wilson's morning commute from the Oak Lane section of Philadelphia to the Willow Grove Park mall typically takes 45 minutes. Yesterday the trip to work stretched to 90 minutes. Worse, it cost her $25 - $6.25 more than her weekly Transpass. Pardon the bad mood as she did the math. "That's $500 in two weeks just to get to work!" Wilson, 23, exclaimed after finally arriving at her job as an optometry technician at the mall. "It's horrible!"

and this, from "Transit walkout slows Center City businesses":

While contingency plans by big businesses and universities have eased some of the distress over the SEPTA strike, growing frustration was evident yesterday among some Center City business proprietors. Often, both customers and employees were in short supply. "We here at City Tavern have virtually no business," Paul Bauer, marketing director for the historic restaurant in Old City, said in an e-mail. "You could shoot a cannon through our dining rooms right now."

And all those additional vehicles on the streets made things slower for everybody else.