Millennials and Gen Xers Commuting Less by Car

Following up on earlier reports about the latest commuting data from the U.S. Census 2013 American Community Survey, Joseph Kane and Adie Tomer find different trends in commute choice between age groups.

1 minute read

October 8, 2014, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"By and large, millennials and Generation X are leading the charge toward a range of alternate modes, including public transportation and walking, while baby boomers continue to use their cars at high levels," report Joseph Kane and Adie Tomer.

Some of the key findings of their analysis (there's a lot more and more info on the implications of the data in the article): 

  • "…workers ages 16 to 24—the youngest working millennials—are commuting the least by car compared to all other age groups (82.4 percent), a share that has fallen by nearly 1.3 percentage points in large metro areas since 2007 alone."
  • "Young millennials also represent the commuters who most frequently take public transportation (5.8 percent) and walk to work (6.6). They’re not only ditching the car in traditional multimodal hubs like San Francisco, but in several smaller metros as well."
  • "Unlike these two age groups, baby boomers aged 55 and up are the only commuters to consistently drive more since 2007."

Wednesday, October 8, 2014 in The Brookings Institution

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