> it can't do much about things like bus stop placement
Why not? Fewer cars means more room for bus stops.
car centric areas put their front door far from anyplace a but can easilly get. Either the but slows everyone else down because it is going in and out of all these parking lots and cul-de-sacs, or the walk from the but stop to where you are going is already your entire travel budget.
Because there has to be a place where the bus stop could sensibly be. A history of car-centric design often eliminates those opportunities.