Stunning 'Reversal' in Transportation Patterns

Eight years into the ride-sharing "revolution," New York City transit consultant Bruce Schaller's latest research on U.S. mobility finds that car ownership and traffic are actually growing in the most congested cities.

The findings are a "deeply worrisome" reversal of long-standing American mobility trends: between mid-2000 to 2012, transit ridership grew while vehicle ownership grew slowly or remained flat, writes Schaller for CityLab. Current data show that household car ownership is growing faster than the population in five of the eight cities studied (Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago), combining with a growing variety of ride-hailing services including bikes and scooters, causing greater gridlock. Household car ownership has grown in cities where ride-share services like Uber and Lyft are used most since 2012.

What’s driving the rise of the car-rich city household? It likely includes economic trends that put money in people’s pockets: job growth, the influx of affluent urban professionals, and falling gas prices. Changing demographics, especially more families with children, likely spur some to buy a car. Troubled transit service in cities like New York and Washington, D.C., surely plays a role. Ride-hailing might also catalyze car use; once you get used to on-demand transportation, who wants to go back to waiting for the bus?

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