Unfortunately, America exported our car-privileging planning and policies, so those places that accepted our "expertise" buffed car travel as much as possible - traffic catches up, of course, but that's when the nerfs to public transit come in. It can be a number of strategies come to bear, including poor access to transit nodes, long wait times between service, and disruptions (American trains often have to wait for commercial traffic on rails). I can't speak for London, but if you're unfortunate enough to not live close to certain Washington, DC Metro stops, you're limited to driving to and parking at them, or to commuter options. Both are not ideal, timewise, but save you parking costs and sitting in traffic behind the wheel.
It took me 10 minutes to get from Liverpool Station to Paddington via the Elizabeth Line. Last year, I took a taxi, as the Line was on strike. That took maybe 30 minutes, or maybe the driver was just driving aimlessly around to push up the bill.
America wasn't devastated by WWII. Our pre-war car infrastructure wasn't destroyed, and post-war prosperity meant that it was more economical than it might have been, in the short term, to put every American family into a car. Countries with populations temporarily too poor to afford vehicles, and gas, and roads, and pump stations, and gas lines, and so on, would have been more likely to build mass transit. Once wealth returned, American consultation (and aspiration to our relatively more affluent lifestyles) would have come into play.
It's a rare case where American Exceptionalism is a fact.
