Not really a reason for most players to do public events anymore. I'll do them every once in a while, but most of the time I just ignore them.

If its on planets that arent Europa then you wont find many doing public events. Most only really do em so they can get bounties out of the way and do other things. Or you could just be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Pop back up into orbit, give it a couple minutes and go back down so it places you in a new server. If that doesnt work, hop over to a new planet then jump back to the previous planet