Percentage of adults with drivers licenses decreases; miles driven per person declines - The Atlantic

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Young people are not getting driver’s licenses so much anymore. In fact, no one is. According to a new study by Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, the percentage of people with a driver’s license decreased between 2011 and 2014, across all age groups. For people aged 16 to 44, that percentage has been decreasing steadily since 1983.

It’s especially pronounced for the teens—in 2014, just 24.5 percent of 16-year-olds had a license, a 47-percent decrease from 1983, when 46.2 percent did. And at the tail end of the teen years, 69 percent of 19-year-olds had licenses in 2014, compared to 87.3 percent in 1983, a 21-percent decrease.

Among young adults, the declines are smaller but still significant . . .

In other studies, Sivak and Schoettle suggest that driving in general may have already peaked in the United States. The total distance driven per person in the U.S. was at its highest in 2004, and by 2013, it had decreased by 9 percent.

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Percentage of adults with drivers licenses decreases; miles driven per person declines - The Atlantic

MoBikeFed comment: The decrease in the amount of driving is even more dramatic when put in context of the dramatic increase in driving, year over year for the 100 years that preceded 2004.

http://mobikefed.org/2012/03/megatrend-us-motor-vehicle-miles-driven-has...

http://mobikefed.org/2012/04/megatrend-young-people-driving-far-less-few...