My original question was “How do we disincentivize the purchase of pickup trucks/SUVs” but then I thought it would be better to approach the larger problem of car dependency and car ownership. One option is, of course, to create public transit infrastructure and improve it where it already exist. This, however, doesn’t change the fact that some will still choose to drive. What would be the best ways to discourage people from owning personal cars?
This punishes the poor in rural areas. Unless you are referring to only cities that will also be improving mass transit at the same time, increasing costs has only downsides.
I was offering an example. In Singapore it works because it’s a tiny country with stable mass transit. Definitely not a model that works in countries with more land.
Reframing reducing subsidies as increasing costs is what makes people hate the idea. Gradually reducing incentives to drive would give people plenty of time to transition to other lifestyles.