TRIP-MAKING AND THE ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION OF YOUTH: TRENDS FROM 1990-2009

摘要

Young people today take fewer trips than did previous generations of young people. Why?Several trends are suggestive. First, today's youth are members of the first generation to havenever known a world without instantaneous and nearly ubiquitous mobile phone access. Second,they have come of age and entered the worst job market since the Great Depression–one that hasbeen particularly hostile to young workers. And third, they are the first generation of teenssubject to increasingly stringent, and now nearly universal, graduated drivers' licensing regimes,which have delayed licensing and driving among teens. Our study investigates the trends in thedeterminants of youth vis-à-vis trip-making (and by extension activity participation). We findthat while the effects of income, auto access, and working are all positively associated with trip11making among both adults and youth, internet access appears to have no effect on youth trip12making, and may actually be associated with a slight increase in adult trip-making. Likewise, andremarkably, increasingly strict licensing regimes for teens appear to have little, if any, effect onyouth trip-making.