Annals of Motordom – 65: End of Car Culture

An occasional update on items from Motordom – the world of auto dominance
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THE END OF CAR CULTURE
Now that it made the Sunday New York Times, we can now declare this meme official:

Article here.
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NEED ANOTHER INDICATOR?

Here’s CNBC’s take:
A fundamental and dramatic shift is happening in America when it comes to our addiction to gasoline. We’re slowly but steadily cutting back on our gas guzzling ways. This doesn’t mean we’re going back to the days of the horse and buggy. But make no mistake, the amount gasoline we consume is dropping and the implications go well beyond the auto industry. …
For the record, that peak came in 2008. Since then, there has been a steady, though not huge, decline in the amount of gas used in America. Currently, gasoline consumption is down about 25 million gallons per day compared to last year.

So what’s driving the change?

Find out here.
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OR ANOTHER?

From Seattle Times:

Is there evidence of this trend at the local level?
Data firm Scarborough Research surveys thousands of people in the Seattle metropolitan area on the ways they get around. The data indicate that among younger people here, there has indeed been a shift away from driving — and it’s happening at a fast pace.
Today, 80 percent of adults under 35 in the Seattle metropolitan area say that driving is a primary mode of transportation for them. In 2008 — just five years ago — that number was at 90 percent.
In this same time, there have been significant increases in the percentage of young people here who walk in town at least one mile per week, and who regularly ride the bus.
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OR ANOTHER?

From NPR:

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Richard Gottlieb, who makes a living analyzing trends in the toy industry, says the eagerness to play with cars hasn’t changed but what kids think about those cars has.
“From an aspirational sense, I don’t think children aspire to drive as much as they used to,” Gottlieb says. “I think they aspire to have a cellphone, but not necessarily a car.”
Indeed, driving as a rite of passage has diminished greatly in recent years. For some, cars still mean freedom, speed and escape; for others they mean isolation, gridlock and pollution.
Gottlieb says kids pick up on that, which is why you see more and more cars that have faces and stories, as in Pixar’s Cars movies.
“If you really think about it, the children are engaging the characters; they’re not engaging the brands,” Gottlieb explains. “Maybe not great news for the car companies, but I think that probably signals some of the loss of prestige for driving among youth.”
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