New data
from the Federal Highway Administration shows that people aged 21-30 are
driving 37% less as a percentage of all drivers than people aged 21-30 did
fifteen years ago.
In 1995 those age 21-30 drove 20.8 percent
of all the miles driven in the United States.
By 2001 that percentage had dropped slightly to 18.3 percent, but by
2009 the number has plunged to just 13.1 percent of all miles driven in the
United States. “The percent driven by
this group has declined rather dramatically,” said Susan Liss of the National
Highway Transportation Survey, the agency that did the study.
The data comes from a new Department of Transportation
study released last month on driving in 2009, a study which was also done for
2001 and 1995.
“Based on this data
it is evident that young are driving fewer miles than in 1995,” adds Laura
Taylor, a statistician at Duke University, who also looked at the data.
What this means is that autos are in decline, as Gen Y switches from cars to trains. Want to know more? See our posts on "Other Causes Discounted" Feb 17 and "When Boomers Start to Drive Less" on Feb 18 below. Tell us your thoughts here: : :