Image: Flickr/mi-chou
When Leslie Norrington moved from Arlington, Va., to Adams Morgan in northwest Washington, D.C., a month ago, she brought all of her belongings. But not her car.
"I don't need it. My apartment is just over a mile from my office, so I walk every day," she said. While Norrington, 25, still has her car in Virginia, it likely won't be hers for much longer. "I think I might give it to my parents," she said.
Trends indicate that Norrington, who works in marketing for the nonprofit American Legacy Foundation, is one of many Americans who have recently decided to use their cars less, sell them or not buy one in the first place. Whether motivated by convenience, cost or other phenomena, Americans are driving less and traffic is easing up, a growing number of studies show.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's "2011 Urban Congestion Trends" report, there was a 1.2 percent decline in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) last year compared with 2010. The drop follows years of stagnant growth in vehicle travel following a peak in 2007, before the economic downturn.
"Traffic really is as much a reflection of a given urban environment as it is the health of our economy," said Jim Bak, director of community relations at the transportation research firm INRIX, which found that traffic congestion in the United States fell by 27 percent last year.
"The interesting thing about it is if you're out there and stuck in traffic every day, it's probably a good sign that our economy is humming along," he said. "But when the economy is down, and if you're fortunate enough to have a job, you'll have a little better commute but your retirement fund probably isn't doing so well."
Using government research and data collected electronically from more than 100 million U.S. vehicles, INRIX found that congestion intensity has been steadily declining nearly every month from January 2010 through May 2012.
For Californians, avoiding traffic is a favorite pastime
But it is not as though the roads to the lake house will be empty this Fourth of July week, or thereafter. Indeed, Americans are still driving close to record highs. Commuters on the busiest stretches of highway in Los Angeles, for instance, still spend more than 60 hours in traffic per year.
"I find it's one of my favorite pastimes to try and find out where the traffic is and how to avoid it," said Cristina Romero, a case worker for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who drives an hour and 20 minutes each day from Pasadena, Calif., to her office in West Hollywood. Once, with no traffic, she completed the trip in 35 minutes.
But Romero admits that while the traffic in Los Angeles is terrible, over the 11 years she's lived in the area, traffic levels have been about the same. "I don't think it's increased, but I don't think it's decreased, either," she said.
Her observation is true for the entire country. Rather than maintain the 50-year legacy of a 2 to 4 percent increase in vehicle travel each year, the annual number of VMT in the United States has stalled and even gone into reverse. The total number of miles driven in the United States today is the same as in 2004.
Less driving means less global warming pollution and improved public health, but it may also signal a struggling economy.
Unemployment reached a high of 10.2 percent in October 2009 and was still hovering at 8.2 percent last May. With so many Americans still out of work, fewer people are getting in their cars to go do and buy things. That, in turn, means there's less need to drive goods and services around.
High fuel prices this year have also contributed to fewer VMT. Gasoline costs upward of $4 per gallon in many parts of the United States this spring, and although prices have inched down, many Americans are still choosing to drive less to save a few dollars, said Bak.
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14 Comments
Add CommentRetiring has all but stopped my need for a car. As for cars in general, it's at least another 100 years before you will pry the last dead fingers from a privately owned vehicle in America, even at $10 or $20 a gallon.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is the devaluation of currency and loss of what small wealth Americans really have that is non political multi decade process that has no concern for whatever administration is in apparent "control" as the real control of currency is the Federal Reserve. Democrat or Republican politicians only pretend this prerogative is theirs. Other reasons under political control as well but the change from rights to privilege will never be reversed. The jobs that cannot support the cost of a vehicle increase every year. Loss of good jobs increasing cost and disenfranchised drivers are the future. Think mass transit.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe internal combustion engine could be banned due to nanoparticle. Early 2013 is my guess. The car will be replaced by a breakthrough in air travel.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe internal combustion engine will be around for a long time. Cars made today will still be on the road in 20 years. The oil companies won't stop until ever drop of recoverable oil is depleted. While we may see the day that aircraft will become much more common for commuting (at least for the 1%), the fact remains that too many people are just too stupid to learn to fly safely. Heck, half the country still can't tell the difference between climate and weather and don't believe their cars are contributing to global warming. Look how many people still can't park a car with any degree of precision or keep their tires inflated. Now imagine these dimwits flying around while yacking on the phone, munching on a Big Mac and swilling down a Bud Light. The fact is that light aircraft and 350 lb passengers don't work together too well. They are still going to need those 3 ton SUV's to cart their fat rear ends around and nanoparticles (whatever the heck they are) or lightweight hybrid cars just ain't gonna' cut it either.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs for me down here in a small city in New Zealand,I get the 21 year old car out of the garage about twice a week to go out to buy groceries . About a 5 minute drive into town.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy wife has purchased a small electric mobility scooter and one day soon may go for a drive in/on it.
Too cold and wet for her at the moment.
Glad not to be in a big city breathing the toxic fumes in traffic jams.
I did have a private pilot's licence a few decades ago but the cost of flying is too high for the ordinary bloke.
I empathize with Leslie- traffic in the beltway can be miserable! I agree that this may become a gradual trend as energy costs associated with automobiles will slowly rise in the future. While battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) may be economical and cleaner alternatives, I don't think many Americans are going to be thrilled with the mileage obtained by economical BEVs. If you're interested in an in-depth discussion about this and other trends, consider http://goo.gl/D8FPu
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA 10% increase or decrease use of cars in the USA is irrelevent in the global scheme of things. More cars were sold in China last year than in the USA and more cars will be sold in China in 2020 than the USA and Europe combined. Then there is India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou guys really missed the boat on this. The aging of the baby boom is a huge contributor to the drop in miles driven. See http://advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/DOT-Miles-Driven.php and http://www.hsdent.com/uploads/userfiles/file/Demand%20Curves.pdf - page 13 in particular.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's telecommuting. In many cities, there are more telecommuters than transit riders on any given day. Many of us have discovered how convenient and easy it is to work at home a couple of days a week. Now I can use my car for pleasure instead of putting up with the grind of bumper to bumper traffic
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere's a paradigm shift with sticker and fuel prices reaching wallet-crunching levels. It's also an incredible opportunity for the next transportation revolution. Personal transportation means travel control at its best - but the POCS has priced itself out of the transportation dream. It has all the marks of a revolution based on the right ideas.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this60 hours a year doesnt seem right. I drive about 400 hours a year. 2 hours back n forth. 10 hours a week. About 40 weeks a year.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe boomers' changing lifestyle is certainly a big factor, but check out urban/suburban teens and 20-30 year olds. They want to be connected to their iDevice, listen to music, text with friends. You can't do that when you are driving, unless we get the Google car that drives itself. That will be one factor in the decline of driving. Urban biking, at least in the biggest cities is going to factor into less car driving, as is the ubiquity of iGo and Zipcars. Any major change will come as result of the interaction of several trends.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf the peak was in 2004, they only missed this story by 8 years. Most of the article talks about the economic downturn, then states that the car slowdown happened before the economic slowdown. Most of the other articles I've read state that the current generation are more environmentally aware, and see car ownership as a hassle.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI intend to drive. I still go considerably faster that waiting for a bus and taking 2 transfers. I still like having a car to carry my groceries. I like being able to go to the store with lower prices. It is nice to read about rapid transportation except that rapid transportation does not go where I want to go. Until it does, I will not take it. Mass transportation is too slow and uncomfortable. In many places the best way to get from point a to point b is by automobile. I do not understand why articles appear trying to get people out of their cars without presenting a viable alternative.
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