In my hometown there's two types of public transit: municipal and commercial. I was surprised to learn that a lot of folk, even the younger ones, only travel by former, even though the commercials are a lot faster, frequent and more comfortable. When asked why, the answer is the same: If anything happens on municipal transport - you can sue the transport company and even the city itself. If anything happens on a commercial line - there's only a migrant driver and "Individual Enterpreneur John Doe" with a few leased buses to his name. Trust definitely plays a factor here, but you're right that it's definitely not based on technical knowledge.