Further to the differences in generations, an insight I received from Julie, one of my SFU colleagues:
I observed that my kids and their friends (all 20-somethings) show absolutely no interest in owning cars. They came of age with the dawning of the U-Pass, and they now see absolutely no reason to own an expensive (and not to mention, polluting) vehicle–even when we offered them a free car. They take transit everywhere, alone and in groups, without a second thought.In contrast, my husband and I, who came of age in the ’70s, would have died of shame to take transit once we could afford to make a minimum car payment! And I think it was that way for most of our friends too.My daughter (24) even decided to abandon her pursuit of a B.C. driver’s licencs and instead opted for just B.C. ID. (She plans to live rurally eventually, and knows she will likely have to earn a license then since rural transit is currently thin on the ground.)My son (20) has his license but never drives.He has only just started talking about the possibility of signing up with a car co-op. But unlike his sister, he wants to live an urban life and I doubt he will ever own his own vehicle.
Julie makes an intriguing observation about the significance of U-Pass – the all-transit, all-zone card that every university student gets since they all pay for them through their student fees. It does for transit what we do for the car: it makes the next trip seem to be free. And it’s made a big difference to how that generation views transportation – which perhaps now we are only beginning to grasp.
But Gordon, what is a minimum car payment today and is it affordable?
I always thought that U-Pass was a terrific way to acclimatize the next generation to transit. Now if only the funding can keep up with demand – what a shame it would be to turn a whole generation away from transit because of capacity constraints.
The lifestyles of the kids and their friends should also be considered – if its “urban” and consists of shopping, eating at restaurants, going to movies and visiting friends, then transit probably suits their needs. If it consists of camping, hiking, or other outdoor pursuits, they’ll need transportation unless they carpool with friends who do have cars or they have a lot of time to bike to their destinations. If it consists of hauling a family’s worth of groceries, some means of “freight” transport may be necessary. If they get jobs in remote industrial parks in Delta, they may decide to get a car.
Of course, the U-Pass would hopefully program them to minimize their car use by using transit for commuting, but eventually, they may end up getting a car.
The “kids today” referred to here are the university students, mostly from the upper middle class. There are plenty of young people in other social circles who feel that taking public transit is only acceptable when you’re intoxicated, and for whom owning a car is deeply important.