There is a very strong trend among young people away from automobiles. This fact as documented by the FHWA in the United States. Now even in the bastion of Canada’s oil patch, Alberta, there is a marked decrease in the number of young people obtaining their driver’s licences. General Motors needs help solving one of the most vexing problems facing the car industry: Many young consumers today just do not care that much about cars. “That is a major shift from the days when the car stood at the center of youth culture and wheels served as the ultimate gateway to freedom and independence.” A generation ago, “Young drivers proudly parked Impalas at a drive-in movie theatre, lusted over cherry red Camaros as the ultimate sign of rebellion”. Today Facebook, Twitter and text messaging allow teenagers and 20-somethings to connect without wheels. High gas prices and environmental concerns don’t help matters. “They think of a car as a giant bummer,” and “Think about your dashboard. It’s filled with nothing but bad news.” There is data to support these observations. In 2008, 46.3 per cent of potential drivers 19 years old and younger had drivers licences, compared with 64.4 per cent in 1998, according to the Federal Highway Administration, and drivers aged 21 to 30 drove 12 percent fewer miles in 2009 than they did in 1995. This has broad implications for urban planners and transportation decision makers as they need to accommodate the future generations that will embrace mass transit. My generation that as teenagers embraced Camaros, Mustangs and Firebirds need to realize that our kids do not share our passions for wasting fuel and energy just to sit in traffic. The automakers concerns are warranted, as they need to attract new drivers to replace the older drivers who will eventually disappear. Boomers and the millennial generation, the two largest demographic groups in North America, are converging in a time-of-life moment where what they want is walkable, compact, higher-density, service-rich, transit-oriented communities and destinations.. calgaryherald/news/edmonton/Fewer+young+Albertans+sliding+behind+wheel+Journal/10090722/story.html
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:43:20 +0000
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