Rural public transport is something that really needs to be improved; it's expensive, but that shouldn't deter from its obvious objective correctness.
And there's no excuse for suburbs (however defined) to have poor public transport. None whatsoever.
Most rural public transit around here is "dial-a-ride" service and is only available during banking hours. It would take a massive subsidization when cars will continue to become more efficient and eventually emission-free.
Driverless cars will eventually rule and I can see most people not needing to own one as they'll be easily summoned with perhaps only people living in the countryside owning their own. Nix has also predicted such a setup.
