Surprise surprise, I’m pulling another article from Atlantic Cities.  This article titled “Why Don’t Young Americans Buy Cars?” is exactly about that.  The question is whether Millennials’ lack of purchasing automobiles is due to current economic woes; a greater interest in purchasing smartphones, videogames and other consumer products; or is a growing trend among younger Americans that will continue?  

The auto industry really hopes it’s not the ladder, but I hope it is considering my obvious dislike of cars.  Whichever it is automobile sales are likely to stay low (or at least lower than they were for previous generations) among this age group for the foreseeable future considering that 32 percent of Millennials live in cities where cars are much less of a necessity than they are in the ‘burbs .  America is becoming more and more urbanized and more people (especially young people) are opting to live in cities that offer walkability, which means less and less car ownership, and I don’t see this changing anytime soon. 

So even as our generation gets older, starts making more money and some start to move back to the suburbs, where they will need cars, auto sales will still most likely be less than they were for Baby Boomers and Generation X because a greater proportion of Millennials will remain in cities while the next generation of young people move into cities as well.

NPR’s Talk of the Nation did a story on the rise of cycling and cyclists’ often disregard for the law.  If you have 30 minutes click here to listen.  The program features Bill Strickland of Bicycling Magazine, which recently published this relevant article worth reading about bicycling in New York City, and Tom Vanderbilt, author of the book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) and transport columnist at Slate.com. 

The program definitely had a pro-bicycle message, as expected, because of two pro-cycling guests, a host who subtly offered his support for cycling and a handful of pro-bicycle callers, some rational and some irrational.  Despite this, the guests admitted (and this is part of the article linked above) that cyclists often do break traffic laws and it is only hurting themselves and the image of the entire cycling community.  The backlash against cyclists and bike-lanes only increases when drivers and pedestrians see so many infractions from cyclists. However, that doesn’t excuse running red lights and ignoring pedestrians, which in my personal opinion is more rampant in New York than in any other city I’ve biked in, nor does it excuse the countless number of drivers ignoring the rules of the road.

Despite the negative image it gives cyclists, many who called in argued it is often safer for cyclists to break the law for safety reasons.  Most of these laws aren’t designed for bicycles.  They are designed for a very different, much bigger and more powerful vehicles,  and some believe sometimes breaking the law is often safer than following the law.  I am hesitant to agree with that statement, but I understand the sentiment.

The opponents of cyclist and bike-lanes in New York and other cities is often blown out of proportion simply because they have a very loud voice.  It’s not just cyclists who support better bicycle infrastructure. The author references a “Quinnipiac University poll that showed 59 percent of all New Yorkers—not just cyclists—approve of expanding the bike-lane program.”  While that means a significant 41% are in opposition, they are by no means a majority as one might be led to believe.  In addition, both the article and program repeatedly point out that cycling and bike lanes make a neighborhood more inhabitable, it’s just that some people really aren’t receptive to change.

City planners and the cycling community have proven that bike-lanes are here to stay and the amount of urban cyclists will most likely continue to rise year after year.  Bill Strickland said it best in the interview: “Streets aren’t for cars. They’re for people.”  The sooner people accept this and work to make our streets more inhabitable for everyone and the sooner we all start paying attention and following traffic laws the better our communities will be, which really is the ultimate goal.

I don’t know how much more evidence we need before this sticks, but the promotion of biking and walking will most definitely lead to a healthier country and cut down on the cost of healthcare.

As The Atlantic Cities notes, our lack of biking and walking is not the only reason for high obesity rates, but the mistake of designing our country around the automobile has made in nearly impossible for most people to choose active transportation, which only exacerbates the problem.  The fact that we are first in obesity and last in bicycle/walking (among OECD countries examined in this study) is significant.

It is also worth noting that the United States is not alone.  As parts of the developing world transform into richer countries, obesity levels are rising.  An Economist article from February 2012 examines this fact.  

This rise in obesity is partly due to previous malnutrition.  Growing up in a country with limited food access forces bodies to adapt and develop a greater fat reserving capability .  When the country develops and people have greater access to food, the metabolism stays the same and people start to eat more, which means they begin storing more fat and become obese.  ”In Mexico, for instance, obesity was almost unknown in 1980. Now 30% of Mexican adults are clinically obese and 70% are overweight.”  Mexico is also towards the bottom of the list for the percentage of citizens who bike and walk to purposeful destinations.

As previously reported earlier this year, Pennsylvania’s Governor Corbett signed a safe passing bill requiring vehicles to pass cyclists with at least four feet, making PA the 22nd state requiring a safe passing distance. This bill went into effect yesterday.

Besides the four feet requirement, another great aspect of this bill is that it forbids the dreaded “right hook”.  Meaning that a vehicle turning may not impede a cyclists progress.  Bicycles often slam into drivers making right hand turns unaware of the cyclists to their right. This is the only type of accident I have been in so it’s nice to see some legislation acknowledging the situation’s potential danger.

Will it actually be enforced? Will police be aware of the law? Will it be included on the driver’s test? Will driver’s be aware of the law? I doubt we will be able to answer yes to all of these questions, but getting it on the books is a good start and having specific legislation to point to in a relevant scenario could be just what is needed to hold drivers accountable when necessary.

Another great one from The Atlantic Cities outlining a recent study in Sweden, which tested car drivers dissatisfaction and preconceived notions of mass transit.  They provided residents of an average sized, unnamed Swedish city, who regularly commute via car, a 30 day prepaid fare pass for mass transit.  The results were pretty incredible and showed that the participants had a greater satisfaction with mass transit during and after the study than they expected they would prior to the study.  Read the article for the full story.

I can’t help but think that if this test had been conducted in the U.S., most participants either would have the same negative opinions of mass transit as they did before or they would be to stubborn to admit they were wrong.

A couple things I really liked from this article:

It mentions something they refer to as the “focusing illusion”.  They claim “by focusing too much on the negative aspects of transit, like waiting on the platform, habitual drivers are overlooking the positive ones, like reading on the train.” I think that is a fantastic point and one that I have always considered myself.  I guess it just a matter of weighing out the pros and cons.  And it seems the pros outweigh the cons, at least in Sweden. 

Also it mentions, “in previous studies of happiness, commuting has been found to be the least pleasant part of our day.” NOT TRUE IF YOU COMMUTE BY BIKE!

I’m also curious if the study was responsible for converting any of the participants to regular transit riders. This would be ideal, but my skepticism tells me they could have easily returned to their previously perceived ease of driving.