Another day, another study. Yesterday from New Jersey, today from California:
The Los Angeles Times (March 13):
Californians aren’t depending quite as heavily on cars for commutes and errands as they did a decade ago, according to a new survey by Caltrans. …
What is happening in California mirrors a nationwide decline in driving, experts say: The number of car miles driven annually peaked about a decade ago, and the percentage of people in their teens, 20s and 30s without driver’s licenses continues to grow. …
In the decade since the survey was last conducted, in 2001, the rate of Californians walking, biking or taking transit on a typical day doubled to 22%, according to the data. During the same time period, the rate of Californians driving on any given day fell by about 12 percentage points.
Rick Jelfs notes: “The California 22% modal split (non-auto vs. auto) is comparable to Metro Vancouver’s (according to Moving in a Livable Region) at about 27%, but, if the survey is accurate, is actually increasing much faster than Metro’s over the last decade. (California doubled in 10 years; Metro went from 25 % to 27 %.)”
One would hope LA would register a decline in driving after the billions LA has spent on mass transit. A great system let down by a feeling of low personal safety.