At least according to this blog post. The following makes it of particular interest to this blog, though: "...many of today's young people living in a more urban society learn to live without cars. They socialize on the Internet and on smart phones, not in cars. Many do not even bother to get a driver's license. This helps explain why, despite the largest U.S. teenage population ever, the number of teenagers with licenses, which peaked at 12 million in 1978, is now under 10 million. If this trend continues, the number of potential young car-buyers will continue to decline."
This is certainly true of my own teenage sons, who are showing very little interest in learning to drive, let alone getting a car. Car does not seem to equal freedom or autonomy to them at all.
The following, from an earlier source for this post, is also worth considering:
"Japan may offer some clues to the U.S. future. Both more densely populated and highly urbanized than the United States, Japan apparently reached car saturation in 1990. Since then its annual car sales have shrunk by 21 percent. The United States appears set to follow suit."
Is there any link between having places to go for a shag and not needing a car? What is the trajectory of 'Love Hotels' in Japan vs car ownership?
No comments:
Post a Comment