There's two things going on there, actually: 1. Cars are more expensive in those places, generally, but 2. You don't need a car as much, so there's fewer cars

There's two things going on there, actually: 1. Cars are more expensive in those places, generally, but 2. You don't need a car as much, so there's fewer cars and they're not driven as far. In practice this tends to mean lower transportation costs in those areas, even if on paper it may look like it's more expensive because owning/operating a car there costs more. When we moved to Munich, we ditched having a car entirely. If we still had a car and had driven it just as much as in the states, then sure it would've been more expensive. We just didn't need to do that. (As soon as we moved back to the US we got a car again of course)