Gotta give some credit on Takei for that tbh, refusing to disparage public transport while you have responsibility over that stuff is both a very valid reason for recusing yourself from something and one of those moral dilemmas that only happen in real life because no one would ever think of it for fiction.
For the Leonard Nimoy role?
Yep!
They mention it on the DVD commentary for the episode
Gotta give some credit on Takei for that tbh, refusing to disparage public transport while you have responsibility over that stuff is both a very valid reason for recusing yourself from something and one of those moral dilemmas that only happen in real life because no one would ever think of it for fiction.