I don't think the relationship between car-dependent infrastructure and meeting people holds. I live near the center of the city, and I take public transportation and walk to go to work. In 7 years of subway, I've never had a conversation with a stranger. I don't think I've ever seen someone have one either. I think I had one or two conversations with strangers in 5 years of bus, which is a bit better.
I had more when walking (I'd say one every 6 months), but that's only when I'm not constrained on time, so at the end of work or on free days/the weekend. 95% of the time it's people asking for direction, all of those being something you could check on your phone (I know because that's how I'm able to answer them). I've never met someone that I talked to again this way.
My university had no cars in it, and was wide. It was a great place to be, because cars and the infrastructure designed around them sucks. But outside of the people in my class (basically the equivalent of colleagues), I don't think I met anyone.
On the other hand, car-dependent infrastructure strips the joy from life, in a way that makes life with them way more miserable, even if you don't use them. In my university, I could sit on grass, walk around without making sure I won't be killed by an incoming vehicle, appreciate the silence when most people were in class. Now I have to go through a car-heavy area to go to the office. My choice is either the big street with lots of cars, or the small streets with cars and a piss smell.
At the university, I didn't mind being alone. In a way, a bit like in nature, even if alone you don't feel lonely when there are tree, grass and wide spaces around you. Now that I'm mostly in car-dominated areas, being alone is slightly more unbearable every day.