I don't know what it's like in your country, but in the UK where public transport is an absolute joke, if you don't have a car you're like a 2nd class citizen that has restricted employment opportunities simply because without one you can't reliably get to many places of employment within a reasonable time at the times expected. If you for instance wanted to attend many events or perhaps even join a club that aren't local you'd be forced to look for expensive hotel accommodation after travelling for hours without the option of travelling when you want to, when a car journey would often be a relatively quick trip. Without a car you lose a huge amount of freedom and convenience, you are left very restricted, what would be just a quick trip somewhere without even thinking about it can become a very long winded chore and something you have to plan out with public transport and that's if it's even possible at the time you wish to travel with the place you wish to go. Even visiting the local supermarket that's about a mile away is horrible without a car because I can only carry so much shopping and it's unpleasant carrying heavy bags back making expensive taxis often a better option, although at least many supermarkets are now offering delivery options these days which is an improvement. Finally expect some drivers, even family or close friends to be really awkward about driving you anywhere if you really need it, they will often hoard their vehicle knowing you have no other way to get somewhere and could even blackmail you to pamper to their whims for them to drive you, you really can be treated like a 2nd class citizen without a car.
If you don't believe public transport is a joke in the UK, then try to travel at say 2am in the morning anywhere, you can't because public transport doesn't exist, or even try catching a train at 8am on a Sunday morning, again they don't exist. Even during the day, try to travel anywhere fairly remote in the countryside more than a few miles from a reasonable sized town, you can't without an expensive taxi which is defeating the object. Unless you are travelling from large city to city you will need to change and your journey can take multiple times what it would take in a car, it's also very unreliable and uncomfortable travelling with total strangers to busy places, especially for many autistic people. Even the price of public transport is very poor in the UK where we have one of the most unreliable and yet most expensive train networks.
Unfortunately the costs of owning a car are ridiculous in the UK at least, especially insurance which is utterly scandalous, especially for younger new drivers, even though insurance has risen over the years much MUCH MUCH MUCH higher than inflation, literally tripling the cost multiple times over the last 20 years and that it's cost is often extremely unfair, E.g. punishing people who are unfortunate victims of crime or even if you happen to live in what is considered a bad area (extreme prejudice), while allowing some people who are very bad drivers to protect their no claims bonus, the only noticeable regulation has been to further punish and catch people who attempt to drive without it, E.g. the police now take an uninsured vehicle off the road immediately leaving the driver and any passengers stranded at the roadside and if they don't pay the huge fine within a certain time, the car will be crushed, plus the driver always gets penalty points on their licence that greatly increases their insurance cost even more making affording it even more impossible (too many points causes a licence ban and court appearance, new drivers now only have to get 6 points for a ban instead of 12 which means they can lose their licence instantly since you get 6 points just for driving without insurance, then try getting insurance after a ban, it will be astronomical on top of astronomical), then there's now traffic cameras that automatically read registrations in most police cars, alerting officers straight away to pull the vehicle over without insurance. Also petrol (AKA. gas in the USA) is now also ridiculously high where most of the cost is government tax and I understand it's MUCH cheaper in the USA although average distances are much larger in a much larger country. Even car repairs and costs have gone up much higher than inflation over the years making them astronomically expensive, especially if you are unable to repair and service the vehicle yourself, then it's hard to find a reputable trustworthy garage that won't try to rip you off with a poor service where at least half of it's not done and/or trying to charging you for repairs that weren't needed or sometimes even done.
Unfortunately I don't have an option to drive any more because I have sleep apnea and I'm not responding to treatment, but since I haven't driven for years I wouldn't be-able to afford the ridiculous price of insurance anyway because even though I'm an extremely experienced driver who drove for 20 years without a single accident I'd be severely punished by insurance companies for not staying a continuous customer where I'd be treated and charged MUCH more like a new driver again at crazy rates that would literally cost much more than an average used vehicle just for 1 year just for 3rd party fire and theft, E.g. £3,000 a year for a £1,000 value small car if you're lucky and it can be even more, especially for younger drivers, that is how ridiculous it's become in the UK, but someone who has had accidents that they caused by bad driving, but protected their no claims bonus could be paying just £500 a year, how fair is that?
It is possible that things could change in the long term future when driverless cars virtually completely take over which I believe they will eventually, then we're likely to see a lot less car owners and much cheaper taxi rates or we could even see even cheaper computer controlled and driven mini busses that replace a lot of local public transport to take people to where they really want to go, probably within zones that would overlap, but at 48 years old with various health conditions I'm not likely reap the benefit of it, well not in this lifetime anyway.
