In short: rural transit hubs. People drive to those instead of direct to destinations.

My parents grew up in rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Until the proliferation of personal automobiles (closer to 70s/80s in this region), each town had “enough stuff” in the general store to survive, and busses looped the highways. Mines and mills would employ vans to pick up their worker and reduce commutes. People with trucks would pick up things for others on their return trips from deliveries.

People lived in rural areas for millennia before cars arrived. They absolutely make life their easier, don’t get me wrong; but are not a survival necessity. Also, having a car should be a tool to get to a transit link, not the whole journey. In North America, towns were founded on trains and rails, not cars.

For example, my in laws live on a farming island. Right now they drive to the ferry, take the ferry, then drive to every destination in the city. In tourist season they leave a car on the island and the mainland due to high ferry loads. A better solution would be driving to the outskirts of town to transfer to public transit; the best solution would be public transit serving the ferry. Public transit wouldn’t work on the island, but there is already a natural collection point.

The neighbouring island’s ferry connects to downtown, this increases the number of non-drivers; with most vehicles taking the transit focused on deliveries, tourism, and island residents who’s employment is not easily accessible by public transit.

Anyways, my plan is regional hubs for public transit. If people still live to far from a station, at least they can drive to a town hub instead of a city. Swiss towns in the neighborhood of 5,000 have public transit and rail access.