Young People Are Driving Less—And Not Just Because They're Broke

Perhaps Millennials have soured not only on the price of cars, gasoline, and upkeep—but also on the hassles of parking, the drudgery of traffic, and the negative effect cars have on urban life, air quality, and personal wellbeing. GOOD

The Health Impacts of Long Car Commutes

According to a new study in three car-centric Texan cities, the longer your daily commute, the more likely you are to have high blood pressure, an oversized waistline, and other health problems that increase your risk for chronic diseases. TIME

7 Reasons Not To Own A Car

I've found, opting out of the spurious mobility offered by car-ownership can take you some pretty interesting places. Taras Grescoe @ HuffPost

San Francisco

Praying mantis on a bike

Transportation and the New Generation

 

 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

A new report released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and the Frontier Group demonstrates that Americans have been driving less since the middle of last decade. The report, Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People are Driving Less and What it Means for Transportation Policy, shows that young people in particular are decreasing the amount they drive and increasing their use of transportation alternatives.

“For the first time in two generations, there has been a significant shift in how many miles Americans are driving each year,” said Phineas Baxandall, Senior Transportation Analyst for U.S.PIRG Education Fund and a co-author of the report. “America needs to understand these trends when deciding how to focus our future transportation investments, especially when transportation dollars are so scarce.”

Transportation and the New Generation reveals that for the first time since World War II, Americans are driving less. The report shows that by 2011, the average American was driving 6 percent fewer miles per year than in 2004.

This trend away from driving is even more pronounced among young people. The average young person (age 16-34) drove 23 percent fewer miles in 2009 than the average young person in 2001. The report also notes that a growing number of young Americans do not have driver’s licenses; from 2000 to 2010, the share of 14 to 34-year-olds without a license increased from 21 percent to 26 percent.

According to the report, between 2001 and 2009, the annual number of miles traveled by 16 to 34 year olds on public transit such as trains and buses increased by 40 percent.

“America's transportation preferences appear to be changing. Our elected officials need to make transportation decisions based on the real needs of Americans in the 21st century,” concluded Baxandall.

US Public Interest Research Group

Cyclists are an Economic Positive

One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss 

 

Grist

Why Don't Young Americans Buy Cars?

Kids these days. They don't get married. They don't buy homes. And, much to the dismay of the world's auto makers, they apparently don't feel a deep and abiding urge to own a car.

The Atlantic

Melbourne Australia Moving Towards Carfree CBD

The council document also warns that while on-street parking is the most convenient, spaces would decrease as higher efficiency road uses such as wider pavements, cycle lanes and tram stops were installed.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said more public transport services would be needed if there were fewer long-term parking spaces for commuters.

"From a long-term strategy point of view it does make sense to encourage more people out of their cars on to public transport," he said.

Herald Sun

American Kids Need Bike Buses!

Treehugger

The Future of Cars

@ Treehugger

George Will on GOP outrage over gas prices 2/26/2012

What Is Car Culture Doing to Our Children?

 
Here is the question I am wrestling with: Do I want my children to embrace our rural life, learning how to negotiate playtime with one another and how to find fun in the woods and the garden, or on the bookshelves and in the kitchen and playroom?

Or do I want to move them to town, where they could walk to friends’ houses, to some school activities, to the movie theater and the bookstore?

NYTimes

'Car usership': Motor industry adjusts to future demands

BBC reports