Who agrees that California have terrible public transportation?

Driving rental cars is not normal, because the typical person has so many cars of their own. Flying from the Bay Area to LAX is also not normal, because there are other airports in the L.A. area that are much less time-consuming to use (Burbank, Ontario, Irvine, Oxnard, etc.), but I am not sure if that was what you went. Anyway, yes, driving large distances and lack of adequate public transportation are normal.