IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v129y2019icp107-122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Has the relationship between urban and suburban automobile travel changed across generations? Comparing Millennials and Generation Xers in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Xize

Abstract

Using U.S. nationwide travel surveys for 1995, 2001, 2009 and 2017, this study compares Millennials with their previous generation (Gen Xers) in terms of their automobile travel across different neighborhood patterns. At the age of 16–28 years old, Millennials have lower daily personal vehicle miles traveled and car trips than Gen Xers in urban (higher-density) and suburban (lower-density) neighborhoods. Such differences remain unchanged after adjusting for the socio-economic, vehicle ownership, life cycle, year-specific and regional-specific factors. In addition, the associations between residential density and automobile travel for the 16–28-year-old Millennials are flatter than that for Gen Xers, controlling for the aforementioned covariates. These generational differences remain for the 24–36-year-old Millennials, during the period when the U.S. economy was recovering from the recession. These findings show that, in both urban and suburban neighborhoods, Millennials in the U.S. are less auto-centric than the previous generation during early life stages, regardless of economic conditions. Whether such difference persists over later life stages remains an open question and is worth continuous attention.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Xize, 2019. "Has the relationship between urban and suburban automobile travel changed across generations? Comparing Millennials and Generation Xers in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 107-122.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:129:y:2019:i:c:p:107-122
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2019.08.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856417311898
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2019.08.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ralph, Kelcie & Voulgaris, Carole Turley & Taylor, Brian D. & Blumenberg, Evelyn & Brown, Anne E., 2016. "Millennials, built form, and travel insights from a nationwide typology of U.S. neighborhoods," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 218-226.
    2. Reid Ewing & Robert Cervero, 2010. "Travel and the Built Environment," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(3), pages 265-294.
    3. Marlon Boarnet, 2011. "A Broader Context for Land Use and Travel Behavior, and a Research Agenda," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(3), pages 197-213.
    4. Cynthia Chen & Hongmian Gong & Robert Paaswell, 2008. "Role of the built environment on mode choice decisions: additional evidence on the impact of density," Transportation, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 285-299, May.
    5. Tobias Kuhnimhof & Jimmy Armoogum & Ralph Buehler & Joyce Dargay & Jon Martin Denstadli & Toshiyuki Yamamoto, 2012. "Men Shape a Downward Trend in Car Use among Young Adults—Evidence from Six Industrialized Countries," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 761-779, September.
    6. Scheiner, Joachim & Holz-Rau, Christian, 2013. "A comprehensive study of life course, cohort, and period effects on changes in travel mode use," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 167-181.
    7. Alberto Alesina & Nicola Fuchs-Schundeln, 2005. "Good bye Lenin (or not?): The effect of Communism on people's preferences," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2076, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    8. Kuhnimhof, Tobias & Buehler, Ralph & Wirtz, Matthias & Kalinowska, Dominika, 2012. "Travel trends among young adults in Germany: increasing multimodality and declining car use for men," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 443-450.
    9. Paola Giuliano & Antonio Spilimbergo, 2009. "Growing Up in a Recession: Beliefs and the Macroeconomy," NBER Working Papers 15321, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Brownstone, David & Golob, Thomas F., 2009. "The impact of residential density on vehicle usage and energy consumption," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 91-98, January.
    11. Marzoughi, Reihane, 2011. "Teen travel in the Greater Toronto Area: A descriptive analysis of trends from 1986 to 2006 and the policy implications," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 623-630, August.
    12. Chatman, Daniel G., 2008. "Deconstructing development density: Quality, quantity and price effects on household non-work travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(7), pages 1008-1030, August.
    13. Bastian, Anne & Börjesson, Maria & Eliasson, Jonas, 2016. "Explaining “peak car” with economic variables," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 236-250.
    14. Ralph, Kelcie & Delbosc, Alexa, 2017. "I’m multimodal, aren’t you? How ego-centric anchoring biases experts’ perceptions of travel patterns," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 283-293.
    15. Venu M. Garikapati & Ram M. Pendyala & Eric A. Morris & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Noreen McDonald, 2016. "Activity patterns, time use, and travel of millennials: a generation in transition?," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(5), pages 558-584, September.
    16. Alberto Alesina & Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, 2007. "Goodbye Lenin (or Not?): The Effect of Communism on People," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1507-1528, September.
    17. Tal, Gil & Handy, Susan, 2010. "Travel behavior of immigrants: An analysis of the 2001 National Household Transportation Survey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 85-93, March.
    18. Noreen C. McDonald, 2015. "Are Millennials Really the "Go-Nowhere" Generation?," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 81(2), pages 90-103, April.
    19. Alexa Delbosc & Graham Currie, 2013. "Causes of Youth Licensing Decline: A Synthesis of Evidence," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 271-290, May.
    20. Blumenberg, Evelyn & Ralph, Kelcie & Smart, Michael & Taylor, Brian D., 2016. "Who knows about kids these days? Analyzing the determinants of youth and adult mobility in the U.S. between 1990 and 2009," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 39-54.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kailai Wang & Xize Wang, 2022. "Generational Differences in Automobility: Comparing America's Millennials and Gen Xers Using Gradient Boosting Decision Trees," Papers 2206.11056, arXiv.org.
    2. Shin, Jaeyong & Tilahun, Nebiyou, 2022. "The role of residential choice on the travel behavior of young adults," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 62-74.
    3. Xiaohong Chen & Tianhao Li & Quan Yuan, 2023. "Impacts of built environment on travel behaviors of Generation Z: a longitudinal perspective," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 407-436, April.
    4. Xize Wang & Tao Liu, 2022. "The Roads One Must Walk Down: Commute and Depression for Beijing's Residents," Papers 2207.07990, arXiv.org.
    5. Yang, Hongtai & Huo, Jinghai & Bao, Yongxing & Li, Xuan & Yang, Linchuan & Cherry, Christopher R., 2021. "Impact of e-scooter sharing on bike sharing in Chicago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 23-36.
    6. Wang, Xize & Renne, John L., 2023. "Socioeconomics of Urban Travel in the U.S.: Evidence from the 2017 NHTS," SocArXiv cdw2y, Center for Open Science.
    7. Xize Wang & John L. Renne, 2023. "Socioeconomics of Urban Travel in the U.S.: Evidence from the 2017 NHTS," Papers 2303.04812, arXiv.org.
    8. Zhang, Ming & Li, Yang, 2022. "Generational travel patterns in the United States: New insights from eight national travel surveys," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 1-13.
    9. Morris, Eric A. & Speroni, Samuel & Taylor, Brian D., 2023. "Going nowhere fast: Might changing activity patterns help explain falling travel?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xize Wang, 2022. "Has the Relationship between Urban and Suburban Automobile Travel Changed across Generations? Comparing Millennials and Generation Xers in the United States," Papers 2206.10601, arXiv.org.
    2. Wang, Xize, 2019. "Has the Relationship between Urban and Suburban Automobile Travel Changed across Generations? Comparing Millennials and Generation Xers in the United States," SocArXiv 2y5vj, Center for Open Science.
    3. De Vos, Jonas & Alemi, Farzad, 2020. "Are young adults car-loving urbanites? Comparing young and older adults’ residential location choice, travel behavior and attitudes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 986-998.
    4. Kailai Wang & Xize Wang, 2022. "Generational Differences in Automobility: Comparing America's Millennials and Gen Xers Using Gradient Boosting Decision Trees," Papers 2206.11056, arXiv.org.
    5. Zhang, Yixue & Zhao, Pengjun & Lin, Jen-Jia, 2021. "Exploring shopping travel behavior of millennials in Beijing: Impacts of built environment, life stages, and subjective preferences," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 49-60.
    6. Nash, Sean & Mitra, Raktim, 2019. "University students' transportation patterns, and the role of neighbourhood types and attitudes," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 200-211.
    7. Meng Zhou & Donggen Wang, 2019. "Investigating inter-generational changes in activity-travel behavior: a disaggregate approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 1643-1687, October.
    8. Giovanna Magnani & Tommaso Bertolotti & Antonella Zucchella, 2018. "Cognitive aspects of car sharing in Millennials. Active sharers and reluctant users," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 39-62.
    9. Krueger, Rico & Rashidi, Taha H. & Vij, Akshay, 2018. "X vs. Y: An Analysis of Intergenerational Differences in Transport Mode Use Among Young Adults," SocArXiv unezy, Center for Open Science.
    10. Ralph, Kelcie & Delbosc, Alexa, 2017. "I’m multimodal, aren’t you? How ego-centric anchoring biases experts’ perceptions of travel patterns," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 283-293.
    11. Delbosc, Alexa & Nakanishi, Hitomi, 2017. "A life course perspective on the travel of Australian millennials," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 319-336.
    12. Wu, Guoqiang & Hong, Jinhyun & Thakuriah, Piyushimita, 2019. "Assessing the relationships between young adults’ travel and use of the internet over time," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 8-19.
    13. Xu, JieLan, 2020. "Generational trends of gendered mobility: How do they interact with geographical contexts?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    14. Haseeb, Attiya & Mitra, Raktim, 2023. "Do environmentally sustainable travel behaviours contribute to transportation-related social exclusion?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. Shin, Jaeyong & Tilahun, Nebiyou, 2022. "The role of residential choice on the travel behavior of young adults," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 62-74.
    16. Melia, Steve & Chatterjee, Kiron & Stokes, Gordon, 2018. "Is the urbanisation of young adults reducing their driving?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 444-456.
    17. Maruyama, Takuya & Fukahori, Tatsuya, 2020. "Households with every member out-of-home (HEMO): Comparison using the 1984, 1997, and 2012 household travel surveys in Kumamoto, Japan," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    18. Dillon, Harya S. & Saphores, Jean-Daniel & Boarnet, Marlon G., 2015. "The impact of urban form and gasoline prices on vehicle usage: Evidence from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 23-33.
    19. Richard Grimal, 2018. "Are The Millenials Less Car-Oriented ? Literature Review And Empirical Findings," Post-Print hal-02164941, HAL.
    20. Ghazaleh Azimi & Alireza Rahimi & Xia Jin, 2022. "Exploring the attitudes of Millennials and Generation Xers toward ridesourcing services," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1765-1799, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:129:y:2019:i:c:p:107-122. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.