Decades of growth in overall and per capita automobile use lead many to believe that driving rateincreases would occur indefinitely. In the mid-2000’s, driving levels in the United States and otherdeveloped countries peaked and then began to decline. Referred to as “peak travel,” this internationalphenomenon is occurring in places with very different urban layouts, densities and demographics,suggesting this is a fundamental shift in travel behavior. Simultaneously, after 70 years of concurrentgrowth, the complex relationship between the economy (as measured by Gross Domestic Product orGDP) and personal vehicle travel appears to be changing; suggesting a weakening connection between thetwo. This paper reviews the literature regarding the current understanding and potential causes of theserevolutionary trend reversals. While causes such as saturation of demand, aging, decline of youngdrivers, preference shifts and time budget constraints all contribute to reduced automobile travel at onetime or another, or in one place or another, none of them can explain why peak travel is occurring onmultiple scales in a diversity of places. We conclude that, though the existing literature explains therecent trend reversal in specific cities or partially explains the global phenomenon, the fundamentalreasons for peak travel are still not understood. We challenge fellow researchers to explain thesephenomena to more accurately and efficiently plan transportation infrastructure in the future.
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