Roody

That is an interesting article that makes some of the same points you read in this thread, but with some interesting statistics:

ubringliten

I hope the new generation will continue this trend. My wife told me that if you can get a grown-up to ride a bike again and have fun doing it, he/she would adopt that lifestyle. Do you think this is true?

cooker

No

DX-MAN

I would use myself to call BS on that, but a lot of people don't consider me "grown up", even at 50+.

I know my FAMILY didn't, the last evening my mother was conscious (3 days before she passed), I was still treated like the recalcitrant 17-y-o. I was a month short of 44.

Oh, what the hell.....

I gave up the Schwinn 10-speed for my first car; a couple times over the next 20 years, I'd start to yearn for the feeling of the bike again. When I was 41, I CAUGHT it again! Haven't looked back, and the bike is part of who I am -- the self-image in my mind includes a bike. Really.

Roody

Yeah I know...in most of my dreams I'm riding a bike. (Sometimes it's a flying bike!)

Roody

I see a new wave of news articles about young people driving less. There has been a new study with similar results, showing the dropoff in driving extending into people in their 30s. The original study was by PIRG, this newer one is by the University of Michigan. Converging evidence...

Also, according to MSNBC, young people who do drive seem to be interested in greener vehicles:
https://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_new...-to-drive?lite

gerv 

What exactly does this mean? Perhaps that many young people are delusional about what they need to do to reduce resource consumption.

SweetNightmare

More like they don't want to or can't pay the rising cost of gas. Electric or hybrid cars reduce the costs of that. This whole country is money motivated. A car is a status symbol, and they want to be respected as adults, but they can't afford four dollars a gallon. My big motivation for turning to the biking world was I was always too poor to take driver's ed, and thus still do not have my driver's license, and only barely know how to operate a car. Being too poor for even the education for a license, I had no hope of ever getting a car, let alone insurance, registration, inspection, and at the end of the day I'd still have to put gas in the thing; it's just cheaper to go for a bike.

billyymc

Good point Gerv. I still believe that the original article from the Atlantic is misleading in the way the author uses the statistics. Having worked in both the media and in finance, I possess a deep understanding of both how to compile and quote statistics to convey and support whatever message or outcome is desired. I'm not going to go into it again, because there is an individual here who, although he thinks he is open minded and enlightened, has a habit of dismissing thoughts, ideas, and comments that don't support his agenda. So I'm trying to not participate in these discussions.

I would love to see more young people on bikes. Where I live, I'm not observing that. I'm certainly not observing that the younger generation has fewer cars - or less ready access to cars - than my generation did at their age. Perhaps my particular area of the country tends to lag national trends (in everything), so maybe that's what's happening here. If the trend toward cycling as a way of commuting is growing in urban areas, that's tremendously encouraging regardless of what's driving the trend. My hope is it's a true trend, and not a passing fashion.

ubringliten

I am still worry that once electric/hybrid cars replace gasoline ones, pedalists will still have the same problems. Everything minus car emission. Electric cars has really high torque hence quick acceleration, not a good thing with bikes. I hope the mindset is that people bike within 2 or less miles, and drive only after that distance, and increase bike facilities. We need to reduce car numbers, not replacing them with more fuel efficient cars.

Mobile 155

when mankind discovered artifical modes of transportation it opened Pandora's box. You have discovered the one thing left in that box.

Roody

Same here. I see more 20-somethings and 30-somethings on bikes, but it seems like fewer school age kids and teen-agers.
that sorries me for the future, since many adult bike lovers got their starts as young kids. But I think a lot of the parents today are reluctant to let kids go anywhere on their own, which is very different than it was when I was a kid.

Roody

Also the electirc cars are a lot quieter, which is a problem for cyclists. What really frustrates me is that electric cars seem best suited to short-range city transportation--which is exactly what people should be using their bikes for.

Mobile 155

I see the same thing here. Hardly any elementry school kids even walk to school let alone ride a bike. When I was a kid if you lived less than three miles from school you walked or rode a bike. more than that and you might get to ride on a school bus. Today in many areas a school bus pass is $300.00 a year.

But maybe 24 hour news has made us afraid for our children. When I pass a elementry school today in the morning or after noon there are cars lined up several blocks long picking up or dropping off their kids.

Artkansas 

Maybe at a stoplight. On the road, I've noticed that the loudest sound of a car is its front tires hitting the pavement.

mr geeker

as far as "green" vehicles like electric cars, i don't see how they're so green. all your doing is switching from a petroleum fuel to either natural gas or coal power to charge your cars electric cells. to me its like the difference between a 2000 calorie diet were you eat 3 times a day vs one were you eat 5. still 2000 calories either way. same goes for "green" cars/trucks.

i'll stick with my bicycle.

ubringliten

So true. Cars have made streets dangerous. My wife grew up in the 90s while I grew up in the 80s, we rode bikes everywhere. 80s were good times. I have a best friend that lived across the street and we would ride after school and on the weekends to explore new streets and to parks to play basketball. And when we get hungry, we know where to go to get fruits. We would climbed into people's backyards and steal some fruits. In the 90s, cars started to emerge and few kids ride. Most of the time, my wife was riding her bike by herself. She tried to get her best friend to ride with her but she was into looking nice for the boys, and shortly she rode by herself. It is sad these days.

Dahon.Steve

A new article on MSNBC stated new car prices jumped 7% percent this year! It states that people are running their old cars into the ground and are now forced to buy new ones at higher prices. The automakers are back in the driver's seat as people have no choice but to buy a brand new car.

No queestion in my mind, this is having a major impact on young people buying a new car for the first time.

When I read this article, I felt relieved to be car free. When you read the prices of what new cars are costing, I'm just glad I don't have to come up with that kind of money.

https://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_new...to-record?lite

Zaneluke

The conversation I had with my son 3 weeks ago went like this.
" bring me your permit and other information and we can sign you up for your driving test"

he just is not motivated to get his license.

ubringliten

https://sf.streetsblog.org/2012/04/12...#disqus_thread

SF just had its 4th anniversary on Bike to School Day, an increase from 400 to 2000 participating children. What a sight! May this influenced these kids' minds.

ubringliten

These kids should get electric bikes or even mopeds.

Suburban

I think all of the time and costs involved in getting a license during the teens, has a strong impact on how early young adults view driving. Where I am, at 16 you can write your learners permit (G1). All that means, is that you can drive with an experienced adult supervising you and you have to complete full licensing within 5 years of passing G1. When you get your G1 license, the insurance is extremely high for being a new driver and especifally high for being under 25 years old. If you pay for a licensed driving school, you can pay to go for your G2 test (restricted license) after only 1 year. If you don't take licensed classes, you have to wait 3 years to pay to go test for you G2 test. The failure rates are almost 50%. That's a lot of money to pay for a test that nearly half of the people fail. A year after receiving your G2, you can pay to test for your full G license. (You notice in addition to insurance, you have to pay for every step of the way.) The fail rate for the last test is over half, assuming that you haven't already lapsed more than 5 years since you took your G1 license, in which case you need to start all over again and pay for you G1 and your insurance premiums won't decrease at all.

It's a HUGE hassle, time and expense, without any guarantees, going for you license here. If kids start at 16 years old, the earliest they'll see a full license is at 19 years old and they won't see costs for insurance go down until they are 25 years old. Most don't manage to get their full license before the 5 year deadline is up. Assuming they started getting their license as early as 16, at 21, they've been living as an adult for years without a license.

The system is set up for young adults to be forced to go without a car. Is it really a surprise that a lot of them reach 21 years old and figure they've made it this far without a car, why go through the hassle now? I know so many people in their 20's and 30's who make good money and don't have a driver's license. There is little incentive after living for years without a license. If auto-manufacturer's are confused, they should look at the licensing issues.

While I like to see more of us going car free, I think the licensing laws are unfair and ageist. It wouldn't be acceptable to put these sort of restrictions on the oldest members of the population, but somehow it's reasonable to do so to young adults.

dynodonn 

Our kids wanted to drive at an early age, but when they were told the training costs and license restrictions at age 16, and they would have to foot the bill for all the expenses by getting part time jobs, they waited until they turned 18.

At 18, our state does not require formal driver's training, but only having to practice with another adult over 18 until they feel confident to take the test, whereas under 18, it's 50 hours of practice(10 done at night) with an adult over 25, and 6 hours of professional drivers training.

no motor?

Here's another one that's probably been mentioned elsewhere. It's good to see it getting more exposure even if it's an article that's already been mentioned.
https://www.shareable.net/blog/gen-y-...Stretchcontent

Roody

Do you happen to know if these more restrictive laws are reducing death and injury rates? That is the law's intention--not to make adolescents feel bad.

Recent studies have shown that the parts of the brain used in driving are among the last parts to develop. those brain regions don't show full maturity until at least age 21, IIRC.