We used to have good public transit but it was demonized and dismantled by car manufacturers. There is a bus that runs near my house but the closest I can get to work is still several miles away and I cant use it to get home because of how early it stops running. Train service recently improved to twice a week but still has limited stops.
Another issue is that so many small airplanes use engines designed in the 40s and 50s. Sure there have been some updates over the years but the basics havent changed because of the testing requirements from the FAA on new engine designs. Aviation need to become faster at bringing affordable updates to aircraft that dont also limit capability