Buses works great as a middle-class transit option in lots of places. When I lived in Barcelona I used the city bus as my primary method of short- to medium-distance transit, as did, I believe, the majority of middle-class residents.

Taking the bus doesn't have to be the terrible experience it has devolved into in many US metro areas.

You have a point, even though I disagree in the long view. It is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. Making transit really good is very hard until cars are deprioritized. And until transit is really good, deprioritizing cars screws a lot of people over.

The idea is that the bus wouldn't be shitty if it weren't having to compete on equal terms with the rest of the choked traffic.