https://www.cnu.org/node/3566

Back in the thread about "exporting the Idaho stop" there was a brief side tangent regarding how many people are active motorists in the US...

Couple of facts I found out were that 25% of the population are under the age of 18, and another 12.5% of the population were over the age of 65. Now indeed these folks can and will be passengers in cars, but the likelihood of them being active motorists diminishes as they reach the asymptotes of the age curve.

In looking at this age thing, I discovered this interesting report...
https://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=144155

This trend is further illustrated by this graphic:



Overall it is hard to say if this trend will lead to a greater use of bikes, or if there simply be less traffic, due to future generations not needing to "cruise" around for their "wares" in the same manner as earlier generations.

Overall this could lead to less autocentric cities... only time will really tell.

I have heard that my generation (Y) and the one following us has been less likely to drive, more likely to wait until later for a license, and drives less once they're adults.

I heard that in times past, people had to go out to get their porn. Now we have instant home delivery. I think that easily explains an ~8% drop.

The Grist article on the same topic: https://www.grist.org/article/fewer-a...ng----but-why/

I wish my 21-year-old son would drive less ...

The stat graphed is percentage of miles driven by young people among the driving population -- might just mean there are a lot more older people driving as the boomers age. Or the number of young drivers could be driving a lot fewer miles in their increasing joblessness.

Oh wait, I just noticed the report you linked to there, about the decreasing percentages of license holders. Very interesting. I wonder how much that has to do with the specific years they looked at. 2008 will perhaps prove to be a special year. One of the brilliant things about 4$/gallon gas is that it precludes a lot of frivolous teenage driving. I wonder if those numbers have increased since '08.

Notice in the graph, the trend started around 1995, and has continued since.

Probably 50% of drivers around here are under the age of 25. Of course, I live in a town where college students outnumber residents.

This bit of news doesn't surprise me at all, especially with the rising costs/complexity of purchasing, owning, and maintaining a personal vehicle today.
Throw in the cost of cellphones, video games, and other electronic gadgetry available today that is vying for the young adults limited funds, the slice of the disposable income pie for a car gets even smaller.

I don't have kids, but I just became aware of the declining interest of kids in getting drivers licenses from co-workers who have teenagers.
One guy even bought a small used pickup for his son to drive, but the kid never got his license, so the truck was eventually given to his younger sister when she got her license.

Young people are migrating from rural areas to urban areas in search of better employment opportunities and culture. Well-paying agricultural and manufacturing jobs are harder to find, and once young people go to urban areas for higher education they are less likely to return to rural areas.

Urban areas make it easier to get by without a car. While much urban growth has happened in sprawling areas that are not transit friendly, many downtowns are seeing revitalization. Most of the single people I know fresh out of college are gravitating toward downtowns, partly due to night life, even if they commute to suburbs to work in office parks. Suburbs are dull places for single people to live.

Many businesses now see suburban single-use-zoning office parks as obsolete. The "creative class" they seek to recruit wants to live and work in a dynamic, thriving environment and doesn't want to spend an hour or more stuck in their car every day just to get to work and back. Some office parks are losing business to downtowns, which are now seeing lower office vacancy rates than the suburbs. Even Research Triangle Park in NC, single-use zoning by state law since the 1950s, is looking to create mixed use zoning and a more attractive lifestyle in order to compete with the revitalized downtowns.

Another thing that might be a factor is the length of time it takes to get an actual license in some states. Here in MD, new drivers regardless of age,must go through driving school with a learners, then apply for a provisional license after 60 hours broken down by night, highway etc,then after another year trouble free get their permanent license. My son has done the class and seems to be uninterested in getting his permanent license, as he walks or takes Metro everywhere.

The graph might not be showing decreasing numbers of younger drivers. It might just be showing increasing mileage driven by older drivers.

The link to the report about percentage of licensed teens is more compelling as evidence that the number of younger drivers really is dropping, but since that report used 2008 the numbers might have been massively skewed. Do more teens get licenses in 2010, with oil prices in a manageable range?

We'll see what happens with this. In my area, they are cutting back on public transportation enough that having a car might be necessary for a decent job. Moving closer to work might mean living in a less than desirable neighborhood.

More on this story... https://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...g-cars-a-pass/

Generation Yers own fewer cars and don’t drive much. They’re likely to see autos as a source of pollution, not as a sex or status symbol.

Motorists aged 21 to 30 now account for 14% of miles driven, down from 21% in 1995.

They’re more apt to ride mass transit to work and use car sharing services -- pioneered by Zipcar -- for longer trips.

This sounds like great news. I'd find it interesting to track this group of young peoples' voting as regards energy and transportation issues.