Car Dependence
Basics
Is U.S. Transportation Policy Ready For The ‘Silver Tsunami’?
America's car-dependent communities and the legal system that creates them aren't prepared for the rising proportion of seniors who can't safely drive, a new book argues — and before the "silver tsunami" crashes down on us, we need to make reforms.
May 7, 2025
Trump’s ‘EV Mandate’ Does Not Exist. But Car Dependency Does — And We Can End It
The new president has sworn to unravel Biden's EV plans. But would they have been enough to decarbonize the transportation sector without confronting how much Americans drive?
January 22, 2025
Best of 2024: Giving Americans More Transportation Options Could Save Them $6.2 Trillion
Yes, confronting car dependency can help cure climate change. But it can also put money back in Americans' pockets.
December 30, 2024
Study: Depending on Cars Does Make Some People Happier … To a Point
Survey says: it's complicated. And sustainable transportation advocates should take notice.
December 16, 2024
Presidential Elections Hinge on Gas Prices. Why Not on the High Cost of Car Dependency?
Policymakers must to prioritize making car-light living a real option through policies that encourage building more housing in multimodal communities and retrofitting unimodal neighborhoods around people outside cars.
November 6, 2024
Report: Confronting Car Dependence Won’t Just Help With Climate Change; It’s a $6.2 Trillion Opportunity
Making driving truly optional can save the planet — and save American households trillions of dollars.
October 30, 2024
When Car Dependency Meets Climate Disaster
How does car dependency make weathering a storm harder, and what can we do about it? We sat down with two experts from the Urban Institute to find out.
October 15, 2024
Streetsblog Editor Reflects on the 23rd Anniversary of 9/11
Auto dependency carries severe and destructive consequences that go well beyond pollution and wrecks.
September 11, 2024
Car Dependency is a Public Health Threat — But Americans are Too ‘Car Brained’ To See It
Whether you call it "windshield bias" or "motonormativity," Americans have a serious bias towards automobiles — and they're all too willing to accept car dependency's many downsides.
September 9, 2024
The Dawn of the ‘Non-Driver’ Movement: A Conversation with Anna Zivarts
"At the end of the day, there are going to be folks who still can't drive and can't afford to drive — and there are still going to be a lot of us."
May 9, 2024
