As Millennials Shun Cars, Boston Rethinks Its Transportation System

[marmar]

BOSTON — A new report about Americans and their cars says the driving boom is over. It calculates that the average number of miles driven in the United States has been declining annually for the past several years and will keep dropping.

Advocates of alternative transportation say that means that as Massachusetts and other states make decisions about roads versus more bike- and pedestrian-friendly projects, they shouldn’t “build projects for tomorrow based on assumptions from yesterday.”

WBUR’s All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer spoke about Tuesday’s MASSPIRG report (PDF) with the executive director of the nonprofit group WalkBoston, Wendy Landman, who explained what’s fueling the shift away from driving. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wbur.org/2013/05/14/walkboston-masspirg-car-report

[Pab Sungenis]

1. Or, better yet, more MASS transit!

The main reason people are driving less is that the price of gas is about triple what it was a decade ago. People don't want to buy gas.

Affordable mass transit - light rail, hybrid buses, HSR - are the winning options for people who don't want to buy gas.

[kestrel91316]

2. We need more mass transit, but particularly better, more

frequent bus service, especially on weekends.

Yes, we need big transit projects to get suburban commuters into the city center, but not at the expense of the working poor and car-free who live in the city and use buses to get around.