In the past, far-reaching measures have been tested regarding how to encourage people to switch from cars to the more emission-friendly public transport. Previous projects have only been able to convince people to switch temporarily through subsidised public transport. Detached from the ecological aspects, the turmoil in the global economy at the end of February 2022 resulted in a price shock in mineral oil prices, which shifted the primary focus of mobility behaviour from ecological to economic concerns. The logistic regression analysis of a quantitative survey in Germany confirms that a large number of journeys taken via car were saved due to the increased price. However, despite high mineral oil prices, travelling by car remains the primary means of transport for many people. Contrary to results of prior studies, the present analysis shows that participants from large cities have saved fewer trips by car compared to people living in rural areas, even though large cities generally have a denser infrastructure with a more comprehensive range of mobility options. Travel time and reliability are the main factors in our respondents' choice of transport mode and are more compatible in large cities with denser public transport than in rural areas.