I will go into my personal experience with public transport in some detail.
In the fall of 1968 I moved from Tucson, AZ, to Alexandria, VA. In Tucson I had a car, which I sold when I left. In the DC area, I happily took the bus to and from work. I was working at National Airport, living in Alexandria, and the buses operated essentially 24 hours (limited service between 2am and 5am, which I know because sometimes I was taking the bus during those times). No need for a car. It was wonderful. As an airline employee, we all knew what each other made, because our pay schedules were published for each airline. The only differences were seniority, shift differential, and how much overtime someone worked. More than once (again because we knew what each other made) I'd have a fellow employee turn to me and say, "How can you afford to travel so much?" Because, even given our essentially free travel, I went a lot more places than most of my fellow employees. I'd always respond, "Because I don't own a car." Whatever the typical cost of car ownership might have been back then, it was huge compared to taking the bus for 50 cents each way.
I did eventually buy a car because I'd decided to return to school and take classes at the local community college, and while I could have taken a bus to and from school, the actual logistics of getting there, then back to my apartment, and then to the airport, were such that buying a car made more sense. Luckily, a fellow employee sold me her 1969 VW Bug (this was in 1976) for something like $150. Not a lot of money.
Oh, and about half the time I still took the bus to work, because honestly, it was easier and faster than driving to the airport, parking in the employee parking lot, waiting for the bus to take us to the main terminal, and repeat that going home.
I currently live in Santa Fe, NM. We have semi-adequate bus transportation here, although it's been nearly a year since I've gotten on the bus, because of the pandemic. However, if I want to go downtown, I consider the bus a better deal than driving, depending on how late I'll be staying. After 6 or 7 pm I can't count on a return bus, so then I'll drive.
If I ever move to another city, one of the first considerations will be the local public transit. I'm currently 72 years old. I recognize that I won't be able to drive forever, and I'd love to be somewhere that I can walk out front, or no more than two or three blocks, and be at a bus stop or subway station. That would be wonderful.
Meanwhile, this city has good senior transport, which I may eventually make use of. I am also appreciative of Uber and Lyft, which I've used a handful of times.
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