"make driving too expensive and/or too inconvenient, to force people to use public transit" Zurich did just that in 1973 after a public referendum killed a pro

"make driving too expensive and/or too inconvenient, to force people to use public transit" Zurich did just that in 1973 after a public referendum killed a projected metro. The city figured out long and hard what makes public transport attractive and determined that it's not necessarily the time that you spend to get from A to B, but more importantly the expectation of time needed. Consequently trams (streetcars) were provided independent tracks wherever possible and trams and buses were granted priority at all signals. Additionally the attractiveness of roads for private vehicles was reduced and parking was restricted. In 1996 the "historical compromise" was reached to restict the number of parking spaces on the level of 1990 [1]. Another important factor was the creation of the S-Bahn (regional rail transport system, comparable with Paris' RER). Combined with that an integrated ticketing and fare system for the entire canton was introduced. Except taxis you can use any mode of transport within your tickets validity. I think calling it a roaring success and extremely visionary is not an exaggeration. Now if the city would only become more bike friendly it would just be about perfect in all respects of public transportation. With a more leftwing government chances are that there's finally more movement in that direction. Sure, that model is not easily transferable to other cities and it took decades to grow to what it is now. But there certainly are other shining examples of successful public transport implementations in (mostly) Asian and European cities. It's not impossible once the fetish for cars and parking (which is heavily related) is put aside. [1] (https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2012/08/lessons-zurichs-parking-revolution/2874/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2012/08/lessons-zuric...)