Public transportation outside the city of Chicago (PACE + METRA + northern and western L extensions) is part of a unified system with Chicago, and is huge, heavily used, and critical (as opposed to hardly existing.)
However, most people out there own cars. Metra is very infrequent outside of commuting hours, and seems to be mostly used as a way for car owners who live in the suburbs to avoid freeway congestion and parking costs downtown, rather than a complete car replacement.
In urban neighborhoods on the red and blue lines, for example, car ownership is basically superfluous.
In urban neighborhoods on the red and blue lines, for example, car ownership is basically superfluous.