I was surprised to see so many personally owned vehicles(with usually a single person inside) in the European cities that I’ve traveled to, despite the widespread availability of public transportation everywhere, especially in Germany(FFM). I honestly thought most road traffic would be composed of commercial and public service vehicles.
How is it like in your country? If you live in a major city, do you have a car, or would you buy a car in the future?
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A good public transportation system is specific to wealthy countries because the vehicles are well-maintained, comfortable and therefore the tickets are somewhat expensive.
In Europe overall, bycicles are most widespread, but in Eastern European countries, such as mine, the economy is poor. In mine specifically, the population has suddenly grew in big cities and the public transportation system is not equipped to accommodate so many people. Add to that the fact that we are, once again, poor, there are few vehicles and most do not have air conditioner, nor automatic payment. Traveling in public transportation is hell, especially at peak hours. And this has been the case for a long time. Moreover public transit does not cover every street.
Thus, everyone thinking about their comfort obviously, including myself, the city is full of personal cars and that leads to more pollution and traffic jams.
Living in a capital, we have a car and definitely going to have one in the future. It is strictly not necessary for living in Prague but gets very handy and can save hours on some of our regular routes.
Then there are also trips outside of Prague, we don’t stay in the city all the time.