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Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People Are Driving Less and What It Means for Transportation Policy

Thursday, April 5th, 2012 | Editor | No Comments

Original article by Benjamin Davis and Tony Dutzik, Frontier Group; Phineas Baxandall, U.S. PIRG Education Fund

“America has long created transportation policy under the assumption that driving will continue to increase at a rapid and steady rate. The changing transportation preferences of young people – and Americans overall – throw that assumption into doubt. Policy-makers and the public need to be aware that America’s current transportation policy – dominated by road building – is fundamentally out-of-step with the transportation patterns and expressed preferences of growing numbers of Americans. It is time for policy-makers to consider the implication of changes in driving habits for the nation’s transportation infrastructure decisions and funding practices, and consider a new vision for transportation policy that reflects the needs of 21st century America.”

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Going Bussed: Economy And Tuition Fees Drive The Young Away From The Car

Monday, February 27th, 2012 | warai03p | No Comments

, Tom Midlane and James Brilliant, guardian.co.uk

    Passengers board a National Express bus at Victoria coach station

    Sales of coach and train discount cards surge as driving becomes a minority pursuit among cash-strapped students. Photograph: Micha Theiner/City AM/Rex Features

A generation of students facing higher tuition fees and lower job prospects appears to be embracing the mixed joys of budget travel in rising numbers – with the teenage dream of passing the test and driving a car now an increasingly unaffordable, minority pursuit.

Operators report that the traditional staples of budget travel, the young person’s rail and coach cards, are being purchased in record numbers.

National Express, Britain’s largest coach operator, reported a surge in sales of coach and regional bus discount cards last year, with 36% more being sold year on year.

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2:50 am

Monday, January 9th, 2012 | Editor | No Comments

Cherie Howie & Russell Blackstock NZherald.co.nz

January 8, 2012. 2:50 am. One life lost. Another changed forever…

“A young man died yesterday when his souped-up car was completely crushed in a high-speed smash – allegedly T-boned by a boy racer aged just 15.

Shaun FitzPatrick, 22, had signed up to participate in the controversial CannonBall Run street-legal car rally yesterday, in which 270 amateur racers circle Auckland in everything from Suzukis to Ferraris.

But at 2.50am yesterday morning, just hours before the rally was due to start, the Pakuranga man was killed by one of several cars racing through industrial Mt Wellington.

A stolen Subaru Forester ran a red light on Carbine Rd and hit FitzPatrick, who had right of way, shunting his car through an iron lamp-post and into a fence.”

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Millennials Prefer Car “Access Over Ownership”

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 | Editor | No Comments

From The City Fix and Zipcar

Zipcar, Inc., the world’s leading car-sharing network, released its second annual independent study of Millennials (18-34-year olds), which examines this generation’s attitudes toward personal transportation and car ownership.  Millennials are an important segment for Zipcar, comprising more than half of all members. Millennials account for about 23 percent of the general population, according to the 2010 US Census.

  • 55 percent have actively made an effort to drive less, compared to 45 percent in the same 2010 study
  • 78 percent say owning a car is difficult due to high costs of gas and maintenance
  • 53 percent would participate in a car-sharing service, like Zipcar – mobility and convenience is still important
  • Millennials are the most likely age group to participate in the “sharing economy” (67 percent would participate in media sharing and 49 percent in home/vacation sharing)
  • 40 percent say they would participate to save more money for retirement or buying a home

Millennials & Driving: A Survey Commissioned by Zipcar

“I Love Me Carz an Burnouts”

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 | Editor | No Comments

– By Hamish McNeilly
Otago Daily Times

The following is a news story about the implementation of a new New Zealand Law aimed at controlling “boy racer” burnout behavior. It reminds us of the sub-culture of youth, active in many parts of the world, for whom the automobile is an important outlet for adolescent exuberance and sometimes rage. What is known about these cultures? What drives some youth to partake in these behaviours and not others? What harm is done? What works to refocus the emotions on display?

– Editor

A 1982 engineless Toyota Corolla DX parked in a Milton garage will become the first car to be crushed under boy racer legislation. Self-confessed car lover Karn Clarrie Forrest, of Milton, will have his car confiscated and crushed, after his third conviction for driving a vehicle with a sustained loss of traction.

Despite initially agreeing to an interview with the Otago Daily Times, the 18-year-old remained elusive after appearing before Judge Stephen O’Driscoll in the Balclutha District Court, sitting in Gore, yesterday. Forrest was stopped by police after performing two “doughnuts” in his car on State Highway 1, north of Milton, on September 29.

Forrest was stopped by police after performing two “doughnuts” in his car on State Highway 1, north of Milton, on September 29. A passenger in that vehicle, Rhiane Dunn (18), of Milton, said his flatmate would be devastated to have the car he was doing up crushed.

Forrest, in his expletive-laden Facebook profile, wrote someone had “narked” on him for doing doughnuts, and he was planning to put a turbocharger in the Toyota. “i love me carz an burnouts,” he wrote.

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