It might be interesting to watch our declining relationship with the automobile. This relationship, especially with young adult drivers (really young adult non-drivers), appears to be changing. To understand the change, start with the plot of the movie American Graffiti and the role and importance the car played in our culture:
In the late summer of 1962, recent high school graduates and longtime friends Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander meet John Milner and Terry "The Toad" Fields at the local Mel's Drive-In parking lot. Despite receiving a $2,000 scholarship from the local Moose lodge, Curt is undecided if he wants to leave the next morning with Steve to go to the Northeastern United States to begin college. Steve lets Toad borrow his 1958 Chevy Impala for the evening and while he will be away at college. Steve's girlfriend Laurie, who is also Curt's younger sister, is unsure of Steve leaving, to which he suggests they see other people while he is away to "strengthen" their relationship.
Curt, Steve and Laurie go to the local sock hop, while Toad and Milner begin cruising. En route to the hop, Curt sees a beautiful blonde girl in a white 1956 Ford Thunderbird. She mouths "I love you" before disappearing down the street. After leaving the hop, Curt is desperate to find the mysterious blonde, but is coerced by a group of greasers ("The Pharaohs") through an initiation rite that involves hooking a chain to a police car and successfully ripping out its back axle. Curt is told rumors that The Blonde is either a trophy wife or prostitute, which he immediately refuses to accept.
Consider the following graph (Figure 1 in the report) from a recent report by researchers at the University of Michigan on global driving habits. The report link is also below. The issue is very clear - large parts of young adults don't drive. They don't get a driver's licence.
A recent story appear on The Atlantic Online offers on explanation on the decline:
Since 1983, the percentage of Americans with licenses has fallen for every age group under 50. But the most dramatic downward shifts by far have been among the young. And for the most part, that slumping trend continued between 2008 and 2010. This would seem to suggest that the decline of car sales among Generation Y isn't just the product of a bad economy. Instead, the whole demographic, even the very youngest who would probably be driving their parents' ride anyway, may be shifting its transportation habits.
What's the cause? Sivak and Schoettle say we can thank the Internet. A previous study of theirs found that the fraction of young drivers with licenses was inversely proportional to web access. Of course, no single cause can explain a complicated cultural trend such as how we get around. But its reasonable to suspect that young people's love of the Internet is playing a role.
After all, who needs to drive over to a friend's house when you have GChat?
What's the cause? Sivak and Schoettle say we can thank the Internet. A previous study of theirs found that the fraction of young drivers with licenses was inversely proportional to web access. Of course, no single cause can explain a complicated cultural trend such as how we get around. But its reasonable to suspect that young people's love of the Internet is playing a role.
After all, who needs to drive over to a friend's house when you have GChat?
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