I think it's fair to say that Grescoe wasn't writing a deep critique of transit and its more of a "love letter"--but that doesn't stop him from making political statements about eliminating jobs through automized systems, encouraging certain privatization measures, and dismissing the concerns I low-income groups (like his glib dismissal of the LA bus riders union). So yes, he wanted to reach a wide audience, but that doesn't need to come at the expense of grounding it in solid progressive politics.
Yes his flagrant hate of buses and ingrained love of subways is kind of annoying. He makes statements that bus service shouldn't be sacrificed for subway costs and lines, but like that's it.
Eric and I were chatting before the conversation that subways/metro aren't necessarily the best option for Canada. I mean, we're big geographically, but small population wise.
Subways are expensive and take forever, and might not be the right choice. The bus systems, BRTs, he highlighted in Bogata seem like a good match for some larger Canadian cities. Edmonton has an LRT and a ton of buses in the downtown.