Per-Person Car Ownership Declining in the U.S.-U-Michigan Study

摘要

A new study by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (TRI) researcher Michael Sivak finds that per-person car ownership in the U.S. is on a downward curve, but U.S. population growth likely will cause the total number of U.S. cars to rise in future. The study could support recent findings by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) indicating that the so-called “Millennial Generation” is turning away from the car mania of prior North American generations – leading to a plunge in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and a decline in demand growth for new cars (see GRFT on 05/17/2013). “With the improving [U.S.] economy and the expected increase in the U.S. population, it is highly likely that from a long-term perspective the absolute number of [U.S. passenger] vehicles has not yet peaked,” according to the new TRI study.