A study of out-of-home participation in social and civic activities among Canadian senior drivers and non-drivers sheds light on the problems faced by both individuals and communities to keep older adults engaged and healthy. Of particular concern was the finding that non-driving seniors in rural areas and small towns had a significantly higher decline in out-of-home activities when they no longer had a driver’s license.
alternatives to driving
Voters across the political spectrum want better transportation options and improved transit
Polling data collected in November and released in March show voters want better transportation options across geographic and party lines. The results indicate that a majority of voters wish they had alternatives to driving, support improving public transit, and want government to fix existing roads before building new ones. While COVID-19 has upended daily life, the results help paint a picture of the transportation system Americans want to see.
Pacific Northwest cities consider air gondolas as public transport
Within weeks of each other, Seattle and Kirkland, a Seattle suburb across Lake Washington, each made news by suggesting aerial lifts as alternatives for moving people through their increasingly crowded downtowns. Kirkland announced it was considering an air gondola system instead of waiting for light rail to be extended to the area by Sound Transit. In Seattle, a privately built and financed gondola system seems to have gained traction.
Getting Around When You’re Just Getting By: The Travel Behavior and Transportation Expenditures of Low-Income Adults (Mineta Transportation Institute, 2011)
This report examines how rising transportation costs affect low-income families. The research used in-depth interviews with 73 adults to determine travel behavior and transportation spending patterns; the costs and benefits of alternative modes of travel; cost management strategies; and opinions about the effects of changing transportation prices on travel behavior.
Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People are Driving Less and What it Means for Transportation Policy (Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, 2012)
A new report released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and the Frontier Group demonstrates that Americans have been driving less since the middle of last decade. This trend away from …
U.S. Treasury report outlines need for road maintenance, transit investment, and alternatives to driving
A new report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury says that Americans are wasting gas and time every year due to traffic on congested roads. Maintenance costs due to poor road conditions add additional financial burdens to family budgets. In total, the report estimates that insufficiencies in the transportation system and lack of transportation options cost over $100 billion in time and money. However, many news stories have focused only on deficiencies in the road network and missed another message in the report: the need to give commuters alternatives to being stuck in traffic.
Young people turning away from cars
There has been a substantial decrease in the percentage of young people who possess a driver’s license. The ubiquity of social media may be a cause of this decline in VMT. Young people are also showing a preference for urban living and its better access to transit, walking, and biking. Many young people simply may be unable to afford the high cost of owning and maintaining a car. This decline has led to car companies overhauling their marketing and design strategies in an attempt to win back market share among youth.