The demise of automobiles took another turn this year.
Two books are now out now declaring and describing the decline of cars.
It comes exactly ten years after BBC Global Business Reporter Peter Day interviewed Coates and Draves in a half hour radio program that aired worldwide. We predicted in that program in 2005 that cars would decline.
But the author of at least one of the two books still doesn't get it, from my reading of a review in a Chicago Tribune last week. Thanks to NineShifter Michael Garamoni for the link to the story.
The author says that cars are in decline, whole or in part, because Gen Y grew up hearing their parents gripe about traffic congestion and driving. WRONG !
That had nothing to do with it. A whole generation dumps cars for trains because their parents grumbled?
No, Gen Y is dumping cars because 1)you cannot drive and work (you can on a train), 2) trains are safe; and 3) cars destroy the planet.
-Parents did NOT grumble about suburbs, they loved suburbs, but Gen Y is abandoning suburbs.
-Parents did NOT grumble about stuff, they still love stuff, but Gen Y is abandoning stuff.
Parents had nothing to do with the demise of the auto. They still don't get it.
Great point David. I agree, "freedom" was a big positive motivation in the last century to drive a car. Now this "freedom" is a burden, not an advantage.
Posted by: LERN | October 22, 2015 at 05:20 PM
Their parents may have grumbled about driving, but the younger generation, seeing the real operational problems with it (wasted time, wasted money, unnecessary frustration) and not wanting to deal with it, is doing something about it.
In my opinion, what the pro-car crowd doesn't get is that driving is no longer the "freedom" it's been billed as for decades. Instead it's become boring and frustrating, and of course now recognized as dangerous.
Posted by: David Lubic | October 16, 2015 at 12:32 PM