Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input.

Higher auto insurance costs: keep car or switch to public transit?
I've lived this decision, and from my "anecdata": do #3 I have been car-free since 2011 in a large United States city.  I was one month into a new job on a rail line out in the suburbs, and facing a $3000 bill to pass state inspection (the brakes plus the emissions system).  I live downtown.  I use a combination of transit, a carshare service, and 1-2 day rentals from full service car rental businesses (who have desks at several downtown hotels walking distance from my house).  I have not had a car insurance policy since 2011; the carshare includes this and I pay $15 per day for SLI from full service rentals.   I routinely ask insurance salesmen to run a quote for a "named non-owner" policy, and would pull the trigger if the premium cost was $300/6 months, to replace the $15/day SLI.  It's always quoted higher.   In general, our trips have a marginal cost of $40-100.  Sure, this can be somewhat discouraging.  But we do it for shopping at a warehouse club, visiting parents and friends in the suburbs.  Not every weekend, but pretty close.   But with use of the various services ~1/weekend, it's come out to $2600 per year.  I was in at least $3200 per year operating the car and often more, so there is room for unexpected trips or the occasional taxi ride in cash flow, not to mention the capital cost: I ground the blue book value of the car from $19000 down to $3600 in 11 years.   Summary:  Pull the trigger, do it :D