I live in a country with a good public transportation network. It takes takes 1.5 - 2x more time to get around, at only a slim financial difference. I used it primarily for a couple of years, but it was only viable because I was lucky to live in cycling or walking distance of a train station. Right now it's just not viable anymore; my commute would be 2 hours instead of <1 if I were to try it with public transit, and would involve two buses, two trains, and a lot of waiting in between.