From what I've read, Bitcoin now charges high transaction fee and long transaction wait time so it can't presently be used:
a) for a conversion from Bitcoin to cash?
or b) purchases using Bitcoin?

Bitcoin and Ethereum are useless for small and everyday transactions.
But you could always use or exchange them to USDC/USDT/Tron and pay whatever you want with crypto through a debit card or payment service.
I agree... For transactions from a country to another or if the amount is too large then Bitcoin is the best way.
But within the city or when you try to do some physical shopping, I think TRX or XRP would be much faster, easier, and with fewer fees.
It will be really hard to implement BTC for these type of transactions.