Greenwire writes that Americans ditched four million cars and trucks last year, the first major drop in nearly four decades. A new report from the Earth Policy Institute says the total number of cars in the U.S. fell to 246 million from 250 million. Lester Brown, head of the Institute, author of the well-received ”Plan B 4.0” as well as this report, told Greenwire the decline in the number of cars represents a ”cultural shift away from the car.” Brown thinks the U.S. fleet size will fall by a total of 10 percent by 2020.
Greenwire adds that while the economic recession was contributing to the decline, there were also other important reasons. ”Among the reasons cited in the report were market saturation caused by more registered vehicles than licensed drivers, economic and environmental concerns, and a shift away from the importance and prestige of the automobile in the youth culture.” Brown told Greenwire: “Perhaps the most fundamental social trend affecting the future of the automobile is the declining interest in cars among young people. Many of today’s young people living in a more urban society learn to live without cars. They socialize on the Internet and on smart phones, not in cars.”
Younger people are moving away from cars, in part because of their high cost. Brown says: “Despite the largest U.S. teenage population ever, the number of teenagers with licenses, which peaked at 12 million in 1978, is now under 10 million. If this trend continues, the number of potential young car-buyers will continue to decline. Beyond their declining interest in cars, young people are facing a financial squeeze. Real incomes among a large segment of society are no longer increasing. College graduates already saddled with college loan debt may find it difficult to get the credit to buy a car. Young job market entrants are often more interested in getting health insurance than in buying a car.”
Cities are expanding public transportation so ridership is up, enabling more people to move out of their cars. “Almost every U.S. city is either introducing new light rail lines, new subway lines, or express bus lines, or they are expanding and improving existing public transit systems in order to reduce dependence on cars. Among the cities following this path are Phoenix, Seattle, Houston, Nashville, and Washington, D.C. As urban transit systems expand and improve, commuters are turning to public transit as driving costs rise. Between 2005 and 2008, transit ridership climbed 9 percent in the United States. Many cities are also actively creating pedestrian and bicycle-friendly streets, making it easier to walk or bike to work.”
Some cities are also making parking more difficult: “Forward-looking cities are also reconsidering parking requirements for new buildings. Washington, D.C., for example, has rewritten its 50-year-old codes, reducing the number of parking spaces required with the construction of both commercial and residential buildings. Earlier codes that once required four parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of retail space now require only one. As parking fees rise, many cities are moving beyond coin-fed parking meters and replacing them with meters that use credit cards. The nation’s capital is making this shift in early 2010 as it raises street parking fees from 75¢ to $2 per hour.”
Falling demand for cars and trucks could lead to long-term reductions in oil and steel usage, and transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which account for roughly one-third of all U.S. emissions. Fewer cars means reduced investment in new roads and highways, lower maintenance costs, and reduced numbers of parking lots and garages.
According to Greenwire, the report used data from the Transportation Department’s Federal Highway Administration.
