There's a book called "Change: How to Make Big Things Happen" that talks about the science behind social change. Basically, a small radical core shifts social networks by reaching about 25% saturation in other networks.

Here's a podcast that interviews the author of the book: https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-snowball-effect/

So it starts with social networks, then it expands out to action. That escalation path generally follows the salesman principal of asking people to take progressively larger actions.

But yeah, each situation is going to be different. In some cases (I'd probably say most) direct action is the most effective first step. But civic engagement can be effective in a lot of contexts. We basically need to build a movement and have people trying everything all at once, IMHO.

Edit: I also think parking reform is one of the easiest paths available to start tackling the problem. There's already an established group focused on it, and it focuses squarely on the monetary side of things which is critical.

https://parkingreform.org/