America may not be the car-obsessed culture it once was.
New research reveals that in the wake of the Great Recession, U.S. vehicle use is sharply on the decline as the economy struggles to recover, many people turning to alternative forms of transportation, the Daily Gazette reports.
The Federal Highway Administration reported last week on the continued downward trend of Americans in most states driving fewer and fewer miles. Though U.S. vehicle use (the collective miles people drive) peaked in 2007, it dropped soon after the Recession, and has since plateaued despite the recovering economy.
Transportation Department economists Don Pickrell and David Pace conducted a study on the average number of miles people drive per month. They found that this number peaked at over 900 per month in 2004, but by late last year, fell to just 824 miles per month, meaning that "per capita automobile use is now back at the same levels as in the late 1990s."
Pickrell and Pace explained that driving levels have largely tracked economic growth since the mid-'90s, but since then, the economy has grown faster than automobile use. While gross domestic product only just began to reverse its course in 2009, the auto industry still has yet to recover.
The number of teens and young adults - those in their 20s and 30s - with driver's licenses has also been rapidly declining. More people are taking interest in public transportation, from public bikes to buses, and walking to work as a means of recreation has increased in popularity. In addition, more and more people are doing their shopping online.
"The idea that the car means freedom, I think, is over," travel behavior analyst Nancy McGuckin told the Associated Press. "The car as a fetish of masculinity is probably over for certain age groups. I don't think young men care as much about the car they drive as they use to," though she added this partly because of the way cars are designed now, and how you "can't open the hood and get to know it the way you used to."
Driving declines mirrors job losses and high unemployment rates, and economists argue that owning a car, even a used one, is a stretch to the budget of most, especially when considering the costs of insurance, maintenance, parking and gasoline.
"We're not selling to everyone. We're selling to upper-middle class to upper class," Sean McAlinden, chief economist for the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., said to the AP, adding that the rest of the public buy used cars or rely on public transit.
However, less U.S. driving also has its benefits, including less traffic congestion and air pollution, though it also may mean less federal and and state tax revenues.
