An occasional update on items from Motordom – the world of auto dominance.
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PEAK CAR – Continued
This time in The Guardian:
The end of motoring
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Young people today would rather have the latest smartphone than a flashy car. And the number of them who can drive is plummeting. Is Britain’s love-affair with the car really over?
Stefan Liske helps shape these ideas. The German entrepreneur … presents a picture of an industry that is being forced to confront major changes at every level …
The most radical change is that “in big societies, there is a huge status shift happening, where we are losing the idea that you use a car to define your status. So the industry needs more flexible leasing, financing and car-sharing models. And second, they have to find new revenue streams.”
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COMPUTING COMMUTING
The average time it takes Americans to commute to work is 25.1 minutes, according to a new report based on Census data from 2009. Of all metropolitan areas, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area has the longest average commute time in the country, at 34.6 minutes, and has the highest share of its workers using public transportation to get to work.
Over time, American commutes have gotten somewhat less environmentally friendly … Over three-quarters of the nation’s workers drove alone to work in 2009, with another 10 percent commuting by carpool.
Two things of note: the Marchetti Constant – where people have a limited transportation budget of about an hour and a half in a day – seems to be holding. And places that have good rapid transit also have longer commutes. People trade off cost and time, as always. And as driving gets more expensive, in dollars and time, alternatives are more favourably considered, even if they’re longer – but within the Marchetti Constant.
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ALL THINGS DUTCH
A web site – DutchMobility – on traffic and transportation in the Netherlands.
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My favourite quote from the letters section of The Guardian article on peak car:
“Why would anyone buy a car if they lived in a large city? It’s the only thing you own that decreases in value year on year on year. Plus, You have to sink a fortune into it in road tax, insurance, parking, petrol, and if you live in London the C-Charge.
It’s a money pit.
buy a bicycle and spend the money you save on cravats, loose women, and ham.
A really, really nice ham mind you.”