Car Dependence
Basics
Americans Aren’t as Dependent on Cars as You Might Think
Americans drive a lot. About 90 percent live in a household with a car. Among adults, 89 percent are licensed to drive. Overwhelmingly, most people get to work by driving alone.
November 7, 2014
Great Cities Don’t Have Much Traffic, But They Do Have Congestion
Here's a great visualization of what cities get out of the billions of dollars spent on highways and road expansion: more traffic.
October 31, 2014
Confirmed: Sprawl and Bad Transit Increase Unemployment
Since the 1960s and the earliest days of job sprawl, the theory of "spatial mismatch" -- that low-income communities experience higher unemployment because they are isolated from employment centers -- has shaped the way people think about urban form and social equity.
October 30, 2014
“Closing” Lombard Street: The Language of Taking Cars For Granted
A peculiar thing tends to happen when we talk about streets and transportation: We don't talk about cars. Seriously -- listen to conversations, read news headlines, and you'll start to notice that even when cars are the main subject, people will, consciously or unconsciously, fail to explicitly mention them.
May 28, 2014
Survey: Freedom From Car Dependence Appeals Across Generations
When it comes to what Millennials and Baby Boomers look for in a community, the generation gap may be overstated.
April 30, 2014
What Happens When You #ReplaceBikeWithCar
Late last week, somebody started the meme #ReplaceBikeWithCar on Twitter and it really took off.
April 7, 2014
Atlanta’s Snowjam Disaster: How Much Was Sprawl to Blame?
More disturbing reports from Atlanta's epic frozen traffic jam disaster are coming to light today. It's hard to believe how quickly the situation got out of hand when the region's freeways got hit with a few inches of snow.
January 30, 2014
What Will Our Future Be Like If We Don’t Change How We Get Around?
How will Americans get around in the year 2030? A recent report from the RAND Corporation lays out two "plausible futures" developed though a "scenario analysis" and vetted by outside experts. While RAND takes a decidedly agnostic stance toward the implications of each scenario, the choice that emerges is still pretty stark.
December 5, 2013
Mr. Money Mustache on Retiring at 30 By Riding a Bike
His claim to fame is that he retired at age 30. He swears that you can achieve greater financial freedom too, if you follow his example by eliminating unnecessary expenses and investing wisely. He calls himself Mr. Money Mustache. And he says nothing is more essential to his philosophy and wealth-building strategy than riding a bike.
May 22, 2013
Affordability as a Transportation Planning Objective
— This article originally appeared on Todd Litman’s blog at Planetizen, and was reprinted with permission of the author. What do transportation system users consider to be the most important problem? Here’s a hint: it’s not traffic congestion. The 2009 National Household Travel Survey asked respondents to rate the importance of six transport problems: traffic … Continued
February 28, 2013