As a #PublicHistory nerd, I really should have picked up on Foucault giving Pierre Nora a nod in Surveiller et Punir.
Foucault might tell us that we're already in the car, whether we realize it or not. We've always been in the car. There is nothing outside the car.
Phew, don't cross this over into car culture analogies, my poor little militant cyclist brain will just lose itself...
But yes, the function of so many modern systems is to place us in the car, to inculcate and then normalize car use, and to not only penalize but pathologize deviant transportation choices, like walking or biking.
WHY DOES THIS WORK SO WELL