Driving Decline

Los Angeles Traffic - The Newhall Pass

April FHWA Report Shows Americans Continue to Drive More

There is good news in the most recent Federal Highway Administration Travel Trends report—if you look hard enough.

June 25, 2017 - AASHTO Journal

Demographic Changes Spell Trouble Ahead for Auto Industry

It's not only young adults who are delaying in getting drivers licenses, but a drop in licenses among all age groups according to a new analysis of license data from 1983-2014 by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

January 21, 2016 - The Fiscal Times

Pothole

Blaming Millennials for Decaying Road Infrastructure

If you thought inflation and fuel efficiency, along with politicians unwillingness to raise gas taxes were the main causes of America's decaying road and bridges, S&P adds another contributing factor—millennial transportation preferences.

October 22, 2015 - Marketwatch

Bicycle traffic light in Berlin

Has Alternative Transportation Received Too Much Attention?

Joseph Stomberg of Vox has initiated a series of articles on commuting in America, the first based on the issues explaining the domination of the auto, the second on the debate about the driving decline associated with millennials.

May 3, 2015 - Vox

Revised Data Shows Vehicle Miles Traveled Increased in 2013

Peak VMT reportedly occurred in 2007, but that may not stand long according to updated DOT estimates of 2013 travel. According to the data, Americans drove nearly three trillion miles. Another finding is the large increase in number of vehicles.

March 1, 2015 - U.S. DOT: Office of Public Affairs

San Francisco Skyline

Auto Use Holds Steady in San Francisco

Even as innovations like ridesharing take hold in tech-friendly San Francisco, the percentage of trips taken by personal auto is stuck at just under 50 percent.

February 5, 2015 - Streetsblog SF

The Environmental Downside of Falling Oil Prices

Ben Adler of Grist writes how falling oil prices will affect climate change. Cheaper gas prices may encourage more driving and more truck sales at the expense of hybrid, electric, and fuel efficient cars, but the news may not be all bad.

October 31, 2014 - Grist

Struggling Toll Roads Make for Good Investments

In another example of a struggling toll road attracting no shortage of investors, the poor revenue performance of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency in Orange County, California has not dissuaded investors, as the returns are high.

October 30, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

DC Nightlife

Why Millennials Drive Less: Many Possibilities, Few Answers

Millennials are less likely to get driver's licenses, they tend to take fewer, shorter car trips, and they use alternative modes of transportation more than their predecessors. The question for the ages is why.

October 15, 2014 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Toll Road Truck

Another (Surprising) Toll Road Bankruptcy

It wasn't supposed to go this way. When Indiana leased the state's namesake, but failing, 157-mile toll road for $3.8 billion to an Australian-Spanish consortium in 2006 for 75 years, analysts predicted a handsome return for investors.

September 22, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

Senators Build Suspense Regarding Gas Tax Replacement

Keith Laing of The Hill breaks the news that two influential Republican U.S. Senators predict that the federal gas tax is on its "last legs." It will be replaced with an (unnamed) user fee when the current transportation funding bill expires May 31.

August 25, 2014 - The Hill

Car Graveyard

Five Reasons Why Peak Driving is Here to Stay

The Great Recession ended in the summer of 2009. Unemployment has fallen and consumer spending has risen, as have most economic metrics save one: vehicle miles traveled. There is a list of reasons why VMT hasn't risen, and perhaps won't.

August 25, 2014 - Fortune

San Francisco Parking

San Francisco's Housing Craze: More People Fewer Cars

Something strange is taking place in the City by the Bay. It's not just experiencing a growth in carless households—carless households are actually replacing those with cars.

August 18, 2014 - S.F. Streetsblog

Massachusetts Voters May Repeal Automatic Gas Tax Indexing

It's been exactly a year since the state approved a 3-cent increase in the gas tax with hard fought legislation that ties future increases to inflation. However, the automatic indexing of the gas tax may be undone by voters on November 4.

July 31, 2014 - Tax Foundation

Mileage Fees Make Inroads in California and Michigan

Vehicle-miles-traveled fees made inroads with a potential "no-fee" pilot program in California and a new academic study in Michigan concluding that the state should adopt them. VMT fees may even get some attention in the MAP-21 Reauthorization.

May 20, 2014 - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Waterways Infrastructure Bill: Prelude to Highway Bill Agreement?

Last Thursday, House and Senate leaders announced agreement on an $8.2 billion waterways infrastructure bill, and if they have their way, it won't be their last major agreement. On Monday, a successor highway bill (to MAP-21) will be released.

May 13, 2014 - The Hill

Is Peak Oil Demand In Sight?

With driving and oil consumption declining across many developed countries due to long-term structural shifts, Nick Butler sees reason to believe the world will soon reach peak oil demand.

December 16, 2013 - The Financial Times

Car Commuting Rates Decline in 99% of America's Large Metros

A new report by U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group gives further credence to, and provides a more complete picture of, America's driving decline.

December 4, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

Do You Know What Year the U.S. Hit Peak Gasoline Consumption?

Michael Sivak of the Univ. of Michigan has published another key report documenting our waning love affair with the automobile. Sivak documents peak overall gasoline consumption occurring in 2004. Per capita fuel consumption may have peaked in 2003.

November 24, 2013 - Scientific American

"Car-Free" Families on the Rise

Micheline Maynard writes about an AASHTO study showing that the share of American families who don't own cars had been declining since 1960 but stopped in 2007 at 8.7%. By 2011, it had budged up to 9.3%. She suggests four reasons for the reversal.

October 12, 2013 - Forbes

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