Thursday, October 16, 2014
Millennials in Motion
This trend has major implications for how we spend our transportation dollars in the future. Most local jurisdictions are now basing their spending on outdated models that assume nearly everyone will drive in the future. Numerous road projects will be built in the near future based on these projections.
From the Executive Summary:
Now is the time for the nation’s transportation policies to acknowledge, accommodate and support Millennials’ demands for a greater array of transportation choices.
Millennials are less car-focused than older Americans and previous generations of young people, and their transportation behaviors continue to change in ways that reduce driving.
Millennials are less car-focused than older Americans and previous generations of young people, and their transportation behaviors continue to change in ways that reduce driving.
- Between 2001 and 2009, the average number of miles driven by 16 to 34 year-olds dropped by 23 percent, as a result of young people taking fewer trips, shorter trips, and a larger share of trips by modes other than driving. Young Americans drive less than older Americans and use public transpor- tation more, and often use multiple modes of travel during a typical day or week.
- In recent years, young people appear to have continued to shift away from driving:
- Census data show that the share of 16 to 24 year-olds traveling to work by car declined by 1.5 percentage points between 2006 and 2013, while the share of young people getting to work by public transportation, on foot or by bi- cycle, or else working from home, had increased.
- Young people aged 20 to 30 are less likely to move from central cities to suburbs than a decade ago.
- Driver’s licensing among young people has continued to decline. The percentage of high school seniors with driver’s licenses declined from 85 percent to 73 percent between 1996 and 2010, according to the AAA Founda- tion for Highway Safety, with federal data suggesting that the decline has continued since 2010.
- Young people are not the only Americans who are driving less. The number of miles driven by the average American has declined nearly continuously since 2004. Americans now drive no more in total than we did in 2005 and no more on average than we did at the beginning of President Bill Clinton’s second term in office.
Labels: millennials
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