that rather depends on where you are, what you do, and what you want in life.
for some years i did take the bus to work.
on the other hand, for recreation, it would have taken me 1-2 hours each way to do what i wanted to.

i find it interesting that fairly often people ask what other people should be doing.
it may be that you live in NY, where owning a car really isn’t necessary.
if you lived in west texas, where there is no public transportation, it would be a very different story.
(i was just there, unfortunately.)

in fact, i live at the top of a rather steep hill.
and there isn’t a bus.
i’d have to take a taxi every time i came home.
particularly if i had a bag of groceries.
if i wanted to visit some friends 10 miles or so away, i’d be looking at 3 different public transportation rides, each way.
turns out that i’m somewhat forgetful these days.
i can run down to the market in 20 minutes, or depend on the once every 1/2 hour bus.
and take a taxi back up the hill that i’m really not inclined to carry a gallon or 2 of milk up.

it may be that you don’t mind being tied to public transportation.
however there are lots of us that find it quite hampering.
it’s not that we drive an SUV to go get our groceries.
but at the same time, we’d rather not be restricted to the local bus schedule, and not go anywhere on Sunday.

Clearly there are people that waste more gas than would seem appropriate.
if that’s your problem, then maybe you ought to lobby to set the gas tax where it should be for a nation that imports 50% of it’s oil.
maybe $5 a gallon.

btw, you should be even more upset at the national debt that’s been building for 30 years now, with no end in sight.
but

No!
Using private automobiles is a bad habit. Since 20 years I don’t use private cars. i use my feet or the train. And i live very comfortable.

Well, lets see. People do like to get to work, and then get home again. They like to shop for food and other necessities. And, getting to school and back is probably a good idea. Also, it’s nice that trucks and trains can move merchandise to where it is needed. By the way, how do you get to work and back? Why don’t you help the world out, and walk or ride a bicycle everywhere? Thanx in advance.

May I refine your question, and then respond?

The "private automobile" is one component of a larger addiction – our addiction to cheap fuel, which enables a culture of conspicuous consumption (public and private). Someone above suggested that they are not contributing to the pollution, energy waste, and material and economic waste you speak of because they do not drive; they walk or take the train. Do you agree with that?

I don’t. Our addiction does not solely pertain to the cars we do (or do not) drive. Only 30% of carbon dioxide emissions are attributable to automobiles. We leave our lights on without thinking twice. We play (amazingly fun) video games for hours on end which require a significant amount of energy to function and enumerable resources to build and ship around the world. We eat food (both veggies and meats (especially in the United States)) that are produced with fertilizers made with petroleum, farmed with machines powered by petroleum, and supplemented with high corn fructose syrup (extremely water intensive and terribly harmful to our health), for the purpose of making our food cheaper. We want to eat more, and have no idea how wasteful, polluting and dangerous that processes that enable us to do so are to ourselves and planet. We are deforesting our planet at rapid rates to power and build our material obsession. Do you know how much top soil has disappeared in the last thirty years? By the way – we need topsoil to grow food.

We can waste because we can. Is it worth it? Not for my children. Certainly not for my grandchildren. We are eating their food today.

Is it worth it? I’ll ask the same question differently. How selfish are you?

I can’t answer for city folks, I need transport until I can care for a horse properly. My house is now twelve volts (automotive Equipment) and solar. Most folks who don’t like autos won’t look beyond the obvious downside to see benefit. Automotive technology can easily provide power for an entire house, just be clever. Personal transport will never go away, I see this, I will adapt it properly. I use two gallons of gas per month.

Private vehicles are pretty much necessary. Public transportation is just to inconvenient, and there is to many flaws in it. I had a job a couple years back that took 10 mins to drive to, if I used public transport it would take 2 1/2 hours to get there which still includes half hour of walking and that was the fastest route.
It has actually been proven that trains and buses produce more carbon dioxide per person who use them then actually driving a private vehicle. If you think about it this is actually quite obvious. The most traffic occurs during the 2 rush hours of the day at 8am and 4-6pm. between that those vehicles are parked and off and after 6 most stay parked at home for the rest of the night, while the huge heavy buses and trains run all day many all night, and are almost always on except for when getting serviced.
Because of the whole dumb green move more buses have been put into service and trains, all of this construction is further increases the carbon emissions they produce.

I will do my part for reducing emissions by continuing to drive my private vehicle I own.

without better public transportation nationwide, we are going to remain the automobile’s slave.