Where I live there is pretty decent public transportation. I live just outside of Lisbon, 20 minutes away by train. I usually take the train to work, though I drive to the train station, only because getting there would mean an extra 30 minutes to wait for and catch a bus. Once in Lisbon I have to take another 15 minutes or so by subway to get to my workplace. Generall,y the places I go it's easy to get to by public transport. It's not the best here, but it's certainly not the worst. As far as I know, Lisbon has the only train line that goes right by the sea (literally, the sea is 20 m away from the line) so it's not a bad way to start the day. I do use my car when I need to get somewhere faster, or at night time because after a certain hour I don't feel safe in public transport. Once I was on the train at about 10 pm and some joker threw a rock at the train and it hit the window I was sitting at which, although it didn't shatter, made an impact wave that affected my hearing for days. So I avoid late hours on the train. I still remember clearly what it was like to have no car, and I know I got a lot less done. My life is pretty fast paced most of the time and without my car it would be tough to go everywhere I need to, especially when it's to get out of Lisbon or to more suburbial areas (where many of my arts suppliers are).
Anyway, here is a photo from the train I take to get to work, it's been stormy so this looks scary but trust me on a sunny day the view is gorgeous:
