[thanksgiving]

I think they said city centers. Banning cars in city centers makes sense to me because it reduces traffic congestion.

Japan does not need to ban cars because it is incredibly expensive to own a car in Tokyo. So either you ban it or you make it so expensive that only the rich can afford a car. Either way works for me.

[potato3732842]

People aren't stupid. They'll see your "just make it so only the rich can afford it" scheme as a ban in all but name and they'll see your intent too. Optics matter. Sure with a powerful enough violence machine behind you you can kinda force people to do whatever but that's precarious and unsustainable. Doing the "right" thing needs to be so easy that people do it voluntarily.

[thanksgiving]

Absolutely, we would need to fund a public transit infrastructure and also a public relations/propaganda campaign so we can get everyone on board.

[ekianjo]

More than 90% of Japanese households have a car, so it's not a problem of ownership. They only use it when they really need to.