Change: The kids don't love cars
Like Tweeting is so much more importantAccording to Cars.com a new JD Power study finds that "Teens and young adults, frequently referred to as “Generation Y” or “Millennials,” have far less of an interest in owning a car than previous generations."
The study found, “With the advent of social media and other forms of electronic communities teens perceive less of a need to physically congregate, and less of a need for a mode of transportation.”
Aside from the realization that telecommuting is probably going to become far more common as these gen-yers join the work place, ideas like car sharing and battery swapping are beginning to sound like legitimate business plans for the future of the auto consumer, or renter.
Labels: car sharing
posted by Dahcredyns at
11:17 AM
13 Comments:
This post hit me right between the eyes. I never understood why the younger generation would sooner send a text to their friends instead of just talking to them - I mean you already have the phone in your hand. Now some of this stuff I see my nieces and nephews doing is beginning to make sense.
Very good post for me.
Tom G.
well..... maybe....
but what do we have a really big problem with - with the younger folks?
texting while ...get this.. driving...
so methinks we're a bit premature on this.
young people like cars for the same exact reason us geezers do and that's personal freedom.
that's not going to change.
whether it's backpacking, going hangliding, or going to college, texting and social networking are ON TOP OF - personal mobility - not instead of it.
let me know when you hear of kids saying to their parents - "Mom/Dad, I don't need a drivers license or want a car"
ha ha ha
my 2 cents worth as usual..
Hi Larry G.
Would you believe me if I told you that I actually have a niece that didn't even want a car until she was ready to go to college? Yup this did happened. And about texting and driving - very bad news and I try to move over a lane or two when I see that happening.
We can also debate all day the social and environmental differences between boys and girls and cities vs small towns [where I live] but I did find the post interesting from a personal point of view.
Now of course one niece out of 330 million Americans does not make a trend but it might be the start of one - what do you think?
Tom G.
well Tom - perhaps....
I still think the basic physical freedom that appeals to geezers also appeals to younger folks especially when they begin their 7-jobs per career - careers.
every major urban area has a slew of rush hour commuters - all of them using the car - to connect their favorite job with their favorite place to live.
and that car is usually a necessity when transitioning from job 1 to job 2 to job n...
Now I also believe that younger people are much more likely to think that subsidized transit and rail are good things.. not much different than taxes for other quality-of-life investments.
POLLS show that young people highly value transit and rail and perhaps some as they get older and learn the facts of life on taxes.. some might drop off but I saw a poll not long ago that showed about 80% of people support high-speed rail.
This is old hat for Europe and Japan.
the car still doesn't go away.. it's still a prized possession for many...
Larry G said...[in part] I still think the basic physical freedom that appeals to geezers also appeals to younger folks especially when they begin their 7-jobs per career - careers.
Tom responds with a big healthy laugh. Larry you should have been a comedian. Had a good chuckle at the geeser comment. Also your comment about mass transit is interesting.
I wonder what the average age of mass transit riders is today compared to say 10 years ago?
Tom G.
the big gorilla on mobility at the end of the day - is what auto trips consume the most resources and cause the most congestion.
and for most folks - that's the home-to-work-to-home commute.
and that's where more and more folks including young people consider some kind of "mass" transit whether it be METRO-type heavy rail (if available), light rail, commuter rail, commuter bus, van pools, etc.
but working against this trend is the fact that fewer and fewer jobs are centrally-located nor as permanent as before.
so.. if you are young and you want to stay employed - you have to be mobile or prepared to be mobile.
transit works best for those that have stable/sustainable home and work situations and both home and work are located near available transit.
Hi!
"...let me know when you hear of kids saying to their parents - "Mom/Dad, I don't need a drivers license or want a car""
I believe I noticed the trend starting about 5 years ago. It is the most pronounced in the biggest cities like Los Angeles and NYC.
Many, many kids are saying they don't want a car, they don't want a driver's license, and they don't want to drive. It is too expensive, too complicated, and too much work.
Some kids are still living at home into their early 20s, and their parents drive them to work.
In rural areas, where everyone is spread out, and you aren't trying to drive in massive traffic jams, this is much less prevalent.
We live in a small city, that has about the best road system in all of the US, and almost 0 public transportation.
I started to teach my younger kid to drive when he was about 8, and he wants is license ASAP. The older one, does not want to learn to drive, does not want a driver's license, and does not want a car. He says it is too dangerous, and too difficult, and too expensive.
In our town, you don't take Driver's Ed in your school at 15, and get a license at 17. It is more like the bigger cities, where you have to enroll at a private Driving School. It is expensive, and takes a long time to get a driver's license.
Many older people don't realize how quickly things are changing for those under about 35. It is VERY accelerated!
cliff
Nairobi
If this means less people on the road and less cars, all the better.
" Some kids are still living at home into their early 20s, and their parents drive them to work."
I'm incredulous... more likely I would think is that the kid can't afford the car and the insurance.
anyone got a cite for this "trend"?
" If this means less people on the road and less cars, all the better."
there are several metrics here.
one is traffic levels - they are down and so are deaths from accidents.
transit ridership is UP.
the 3rd metric - how many cars there are relative to the population.
I haven't seen data recently but I'd personally be surprised to see a down trend on this.
I think the down trend is how people driving solo to/from work.
I know we are selling less cars - but that does not translate into less cars per person overall.
If someone has a cite, it would be informative.
larry-
i think your skepticism is justified, but i do believe that the auto is losing its importance, especially amongst the younger generations.
certainly, that doesn't mean the car is going to disappear in the next couple of decades, but the cars's relevance in america does seem to be declining.
add higher energy prices and more options for both public and personal transportation, such as scooters, two-seaters, etc., and i think change could happen much faster than what Detroit is expecting.
maybe we can draw the lines between cars and mobility.
I'm just a skeptic that people will not continue to highly value the ability to be mobile and that they will satisfy that urge by texting and tweeting....
but I'll admit.. that we do seem to be doing more and more telecommuting... so that's a counter-example.
yeah, i'm sure the kids will still want some kind of mobility. i think they'll just be more and more open to alternative forms of mobility.
Post a Comment
<< Home