How can cities spur the shift from private cars to public transportation?

Jillian Van Der Gaag: “Of course, the reality of city life is very different from that of rural areas. In rural areas, you see many people who drive every day — they do everything by car, such as going to the supermarket. But in cities, it’s a different reality. What matters is working with other cities, because sometimes people live in one city and work in another. We need to make sure that if people don’t have other transport options and need to take their car, they can at least leave it at the station to take the train or another mode of transport to continue their journey. This is really what modal shift is about: thinking about mobility more intelligently.” Jillian Van Der Gaag: “For example, in Amsterdam we have a system where you can park your car outside the city; you only pay one euro and then take the tram or bus to the city centre. It’s one euro for the whole day. It’s a great economic incentive when you know that normally, parking in Amsterdam costs more than seven euros per hour. These are the kinds of systems we are trying to design.” Jillian Van Der Gaag: “It is important for the city to be well planned and for us to work together on urban planning, traffic management, spatial planning, and the transition to zero-emission mobility. This is not something that happens overnight — it takes years. Sometimes people simply need more time and transitional arrangements to adapt. I believe it is essential to have a dialogue with citizens, to make sure we listen to them and look for solutions together.” Jillian Van Der Gaag: “As a city, you need to make things easier — for example, with charging infrastructure. We really take responsibility for providing charging infrastructure so that it’s no longer an issue. You also need cycle paths; you need to design streets differently so there is more space for cycling, walking, and other forms of public transport, and very little — or even no — space for cars. We need to make car use less attractive and shift cars toward the outskirts of the city.” Jillian Van Der Gaag: “At first, change always triggers resistance — it’s difficult. But then people start seeing the benefits: fewer cars in the city means less noise, less pollution, and more space to live — not just for private cars that, 95% of the time, are not used and simply sit in the street. In the end, everyone wants that.”