Car Culture
Streetsblog Basics
Suburbs Are Out, Cities Are In — Now What?
Today’s Times devotes two pieces to the “suburbs are out, cities are in” phenomenon that has taken root in much of the country over the past few decades -- the great inversion, urbanologist Alan Ehrenhalt has dubbed this reversal of the suburbanization wave that swept through the U.S. in the last century. Though both pieces will pretty much be old hat to Streetsblog readers, they’re interesting nonetheless, both as signposts and for what they leave out.
April 17, 2014
Ford CEO: More Cars in Cities “Not Going to Work”
It's the last thing you would expect to hear at the Detroit Auto Show from the CEO of Ford Motor Company. But last week, Ford's Alan Mulally showed some ambivalence about the role of cars in major cities.
January 22, 2014
The American Cities With the Most Growth in Car-Free Households
Have we reached peak car in America? Research from the University of Michigan suggests the answer is "yes."
January 21, 2014
How Windshield Perspective Shapes the Way We See the World
Via Shane Phillips at Planetizen: A new study published in the Transportation Research Record confirms that windshield perspective is all-too real. Observing the world from behind the wheel, it turns out, has a powerful influence on our judgments about places and even people.
January 7, 2014
What Did UCLA Really Discover About Millennials’ Reasons for Driving Less?
Tony Dutzik is senior policy analyst with Frontier Group and co-author of a recent report on shifting transportation habits.
November 5, 2013
Study: Wealthier Motorists More Likely to Drive Like Reckless Jerks
You know the stereotype of the arrogant Porsche driver? Well, science says there's some truth to it.
July 16, 2013
Car Ownership May Be Down in the U.S., But It’s Soaring Globally
Two weeks ago, transportation researcher Michael Sivak brought us the news that there are fewer cars per person in the U.S. now than there were a few years ago – and that the number isn’t expected to rise again.
July 5, 2013
Has America Already Hit “Peak Car”?
In 1901, there were 10,000 motor vehicles in the United States.
June 21, 2013
AAA: Hands-Free Devices Don’t Solve Distracted Driving Dangers
Distracted driving killed 3,331 people on American streets in 2011, yet car manufacturers continue to outdo each other to add more infotainment distractions in their vehicles. These systems are expected to increase five-fold by 2018, according to AAA. Carmakers seek to show their commitment to safety by making their distractions – onboard dinner reservation apps and social media, for example – hands-free. But a growing body of research indicates that there is no safe way to combine driving with tasks like dictating email or text messages.
June 17, 2013
Magic Cars and Silver Bullets: Will the Self-Driving Car Save the World?
Back in the day, we beheld the future, and in it, we were zipping about in electric cars. Yes, on that day way back in the aughts, we beheld a future in which a passel of problems were about to become passé: crippling gas prices, entanglements with oil-rich frenemies, dirty air, and climate-changing emissions would all disappear through the magic of automotive engineering. Chevy’s Volt, Nissan’s Leaf, and next generation EVs would mitigate car culture’s costs. And we would still get to drive all over kingdom come.
June 5, 2013