Annals of Motordom – 64: Decline in VMT; Demographics

An occasional update on items from Motordom – the world of auto dominance
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PAST PROJECTTIONS PASSED

Desmond Bliek passed along a link to Payton Chung’s post on the drop in driving in the U.S. – something that has been reported enough to have, I think, broken through into mainstream perception. But I like the way he sums it up:

Doug Short has graphs of population-adjusted VMT going back to 1971. Interestingly, most of the decades seem to see pretty steady growth, with growth rates (relative to 1971, so not even accounting for the larger base) declining in the 1990s, leveling off in the early 2000s, and beginning a sharp decline thereafter.

The cumulative effect of that curve? Americans drive about half as many miles as would have been projected in the late 1980s, based on the fast-growing trend line at that time. Time to shred all those old highway plans, folks!

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THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF MOTORDOM

From bikeportland.org:

The demographics of those who plan, develop and implement our transportation system matters. Age, race, and gender are major topics of discussion in the transportation advocacy world right now. …

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I came across something interesting while perusing some Oregon Transportation Commission meeting materials: the 2012 Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Sustainability Progress Report (PDF). …

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Then I saw the statistical breakdown: 63% male, 90% white non-hispanic and 56% over the age of 50.

In other words, a guy who looks like this: