In the town I grew up in, everyone had a car by age 16. There is a bus that comes through town once an hour in either direction during rush hour, so public transit is basically non-existent. By car, this town is 45 minutes from Washington, DC. You would either get a car from your family because they have enough money, or you would start working at age 14 to save up money to buy one yourself. You learn to incorporate the costs of car ownership into your life at an early age and just work enough, or take out enough student loans to pay for it. Cost-of-living calculations done by universities to determine how much you can borrow every year include transportation costs which are often calculated assuming car ownership.
In the town I grew up in, everyone had a car by age 16. There is a bus that comes through town once an hour in either direction during rush hour, so public transit is basically non-existent. By car, this town is 45 minutes from Washington, DC. You would either get a car from your family because they have enough money, or you would start working at age 14 to save up money to buy one yourself. You learn to incorporate the costs of car ownership into your life at an early age and just work enough, or take out enough student loans to pay for it. Cost-of-living calculations done by universities to determine how much you can borrow every year include transportation costs which are often calculated assuming car ownership.