MILLENNIAL'S ARE DITCHING THEIR CARS, AND IT HAS TO DO WITH
THE SHARING ECONOMY, AND THE WAY THAT THEY WOULD RATHER LIVE
THEIR LIVES.
NOT TO SIMPLIFY THE ISSUE, THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT
COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN WHY A MILLENNIAL WOULD GIVE UP
THEIR LICENSE OR THEIR CAR, BUT LET ME GIVE YOU THE NUMBERS.
HERE WE GO.
"THE PROPORTION OF TWENTY ñ
TWENTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLDS DRIVING FROM 1983 TO 2014
HAS FALLEN FROM 91.8 PERCENT TO 76.7 PERCENT.
IN 2010, ADULTS BETWEEN THE AGES OF TWENTY-ONE AND 34.
JUST TWENTY-SEVEN PERCENT OF ALL NEW VEHICLES SOLD IN
AMERICA, DOWN FROM THE PEAK OF THIRTY-EIGHT PERCENT IN 1985.
EVEN THE PROPORTION OF TEENAGERS WITH THE LICENSE FELL BY TWENTY
PERCENT BETWEEN 1998 AND 2008."
I REMEMBER WHEN WE STARTED
NOTICING THIS TREND, AND WE WERE DISCUSSING IT ON THIS SHOW, AND
THERE WAS THIS HYPOTHESIS THAT MILLENNIAL'S ARE JUST KIND OF
LAZY.
THEY DON'T WANT TO GET THEIR LICENSE, IT'S A PAIN IN THE
ASS, BUTT THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT COMPONENTS.
STUDENT LOAN DEBT BEING ONE OF THEM, CARS ARE SO EXPENSIVE.
THE SHARING ECONOMY BEING ANOTHER, IT IS SUPER EASY TO HOP
INTO AN UBER AND GO WHEREVER YOU NEED TO GO, OR TO GET A ZIP
CAR, IT IS MUCH CHEAPER THAN OWNING
A CAR.
MY OPINION IS, THANK GOD.
COMING FROM A STATE THAT ISSUES OUT LICENSES AT THE AGE OF
SIXTEEN, I DO NOT THINK THAT ANYBODY ñ
EVEN THOUGH I STARTED DRIVING AT SIXTEEN ñ
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY SHOULD START DRIVING AT 16.
I WISH THAT I DID NOT.
I AM SO THANKFUL THAT I DID NOT GET INTO A LIFE-THREATENING
ACCIDENT, BUT THERE WAS LITERALLY AN ACCIDENT EVERY
WEEK AT MY HIGH SCHOOL, AND SOME THAT WERE FATAL.
IT WAS REALLY HORRENDOUS.
THE OTHER COMPONENT OF THIS IS THAT THERE IS A DISTRACTION
TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS INTERVENED INTO THE DRIVING PRACTICE, I
CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE SIXTEEN, FLIPPING
THROUGH INSTAGRAM AND TRYING TO MAINTAIN A HUGE VEHICLE THAT MY
FATHER WOULD WARN US IS A WEAPON.
THOSE ARE SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT I THINK ABOUT
WITH THIS TREND.
ANOTHER THING IS THAT THESE SORT OF FINANCIAL STRUCTURES
THAT YOU MENTIONED COULD ALSO BE COST PROHIBITIVE.
WE ARE COMING FROM A GENERATION OF BABY BOOMERS AND IMMIGRANTS
THAT CAME HERE, AND THEY WORKED VERY HARD, AND GIVEN THE
ECONOMY AT THE TIME THEY WERE IN A POSITION TO BUILD SOME ASSETS.
PUT MONEY INTO A HOUSEHOLD, AND THEN CHILDREN OR TEENAGERS WOULD
WORK MINIMUM-WAGE PAYING JOBS AND THEY WOULD PUT THAT TO
WHAT THE CAR.
SOMETIMES PARENTS WOULD SUBSIDIZE THAT EFFORT.
BUT NOW YOU HAVE CHILDREN WHO ARE LIKE OUR CHILDREN.
I DON'T HAVE A HOUSE, I DON'T OWN ANY PROPERTY.
WHAT SORT OF ECONOMIC ECOSYSTEM ARE THEY OPERATING IN?
I KNOW THAT IT IS A SHARING ECONOMY, BUT WHAT IS THEIR
PARENT'S GENERATION AND HOW THAT INFLUENCING WHAT
OPPORTUNITIES THEY HAVE IN FRONT OF THEM?
I ALSO THINK THAT BIKING IS A PART OF THE NEW URBAN
GEOGRAPHIES, AND HAS REALLY ENHANCED THE WAY THAT
CITIES ARE BEING USED, AND MOBILITY IS BEING EXPANDED.
I THINK OVERALL THIS IS A GOOD THING BECAUSE WE NEED
LESS CARS ON THE ROAD.
WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO RIDE SHARING.
IT HELPS THE ENVIRONMENT AND IT ALSO HELPS THE ECONOMY IN SOME
WAY, BECAUSE INSTEAD OF HAVING
THESE MILLENNIALS TAKE OUT MORE DEBT FOR A CAR, THEY ARE
FINDING MORE WAYS TO SPEND THE MONEY.
JUST TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, A LOT OF MILLENNIALS POLLED SAID
THAT
THEY WOULD RATHER SPEND THE MONEY ON TECHNOLOGY.
A LAPTOP, OR A SMART PHONE, BECAUSE REMAINING CONNECTED
IS THE NEW STATUS SYMBOL.
IT IS NO LONGER A CAR.
I HAVE TO SAY, I SOLD MY CAR BUT NOT HAVING A CAR IS TOUGH.
HOW DO YOU GET AROUND?
LA DOESN'T HAVE THE BEST PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
I LIVE IN MANHATTAN BEACH, AND I EITHER UBER OR RIDE INTO
WORK WITH MY BOYFRIEND, A NUMBER OF THINGS, BUT I MIGHT JUST
BREAK DOWN.
IT IS TOUGH.
IT DEPENDS ON THE LAYOUT AND THE CITY PLANNING OF THE
AREA YOU LIVE IN, BECAUSE IN LA EVERYTHING IS SO SPREAD OUT.
AS LONG AS YOU ARE GOING TO LIVE IN A BUBBLE WHERE YOUR HOME
INTO A WORK IN HER FAMILY IS ALL IN ONE VERY CONVENIENT
PLACE, IT IS GOING TO BE REALLY DIFFICULT TO NOT HAVE A CAR.
BUT IN A LOT OF OTHER CITIES AND URBAN AREAS IT IS CONDENSED, SO
IT IS EASIER TO GET AROUND WITH A BIKE, OR MAYBE YOU JUST TAKE
AN UBER.
I REMEMBER MOVING TO NEW YORK AND I WAS STUNNED THAT
THERE ARE PEOPLE THERE WHO ARE MY AGE THAT NEVER LEARNED TO
DRIVE, BUT IT MAKES TOTAL SENSE, WHY WOULD YOU EVER NEED TO
LEARN TO DRIVE WHEN YOU CAN JUST HOP IN A SUBWAY OR A TAXICAB?
AND NOW THEIR OPTIONS HAVE EXPANDED INTO LOW-COST
RIDESHARING.
YES, ABSOLUTELY.
IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT CARS, YOU ALSO THINK SIMILAR TRENDS
WOULD COME TO HOUSES.
THE SHARE OF YOUNGER PEOPLE GETTING THEIR FIRST MORTGAGE
BETWEEN 2009 AT 2011 IS HALF OF WHAT WAS JUST TEN YEARS AGO.
ZIPCAR CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF MILLENNIAL'S, AND THIS
GENERATION SAID, "WE DON'T CARE ABOUT OWNING A CAR.
CARS USED TO BE WHAT PEOPLE ASPIRE TO OWN, NOW IT IS ABOUT
SMARTPHONES."
THAT IS FROM THE COO, SO OF COURSE HE WILL SAY THAT,
BUT IT IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE HAVE BEEN SEEING.