Man's greatest enemy is his fellow man, because only men take pleasure in inflicting pain."
Above quote is from one of my favourite books (Red Dust by Ma Jian).
I always think of this when I take trains in Tokyo during the peak hours. A lot of the work in such modern cities is people working on their computers - what is the need for people to come to a fixed place at 9 AM every day. We could come to work later or earlier, or work from home a cafe. Most meetings too, could be online; they will be more efficient that way.
I know not everyone can work from home and some occupations or some interactions requires one to be at a physical venue . But even if 20 to 30% of us could avoid peak hours or work from home or elsewhere, it would improve the commute for others who do not have the flexibility.
We have also “stood on ceremony” for a long time. I could never fathom why people have to wear uncomfortable clothes for work and then run the air-conditioner to frigid levels.
Links:
Red Dust by Ma Jian: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/92325