Throughout the rich world, the young are falling out of love with cars

I'd argue it's a combination of money and aging infrastructure. Money is the big one (cars used to be a lot cheaper, both to buy and to maintain. Incomes for most used to be much higher). Infrastructure is another, in a lot of places, they haven't meaningfully upgraded any of the public driving transportation infrastructure since the 1950s to 1970s, so a lot of infrastructure is handling car volumes 200% to 600% higher than they were ever engineered for.

In Michigan, there's still very much a lot of "fun/freedom" around cars. But our population has been pretty flat this entire time (+/-2% pop change YoY since the 1960s), so even though the infrastructure is old, it's usually appropriately sized for the population in all but the newest-growth places. If you live in, say Seattle, you very much don't get that experience, public vehicle transit infrastructure has not kept up at all, and so driving is artificially a lot more of a painful burden there.

Not sure if rich people worry about this, which is what the article is about, rich people.

Agree wit everything else you said though.

I live in a city now with amazing public transport and I don't miss my car at all.

They also restrict themselves to jobs they can easily get to. Which in tech was basically impossible in, say, Boston 25 years ago.

A friend of mine made the observation that people mostly just don't do optional activities if they're hard or expensive to do. So if you live carless in a city with decent public transit, you mostly restrict your recreational activities and people you get together with to what's convenient and tend not to do things that require renting a car on a Friday night and returning it Sunday or Monday.

If I'd lived somewhere a car was needed, I'd have learned. It's not an ideological opposition to cars by any means. Occasionally I consider getting a drivers license, and then forget about it, because it's just never felt worth the hassle.

Like you I've just never felt that emotional association with freedom from a car. I think an essential aspect of that was growing up somewhere where I felt I had the same options without one.

It was possible to do that before cars, but mass car ownership & a modern road network made it something the average consumer could do semi-routinely, instead of something that required more spare time & energy than people had day to day.

When you know not only what businesses, facilities etc. you'll find in the town 50km away, but have a fair idea of what they're like (google reviews..), the world is so much a smaller place than it was even up until the mid 1990s. And with social media, you're no more or less a stranger in your own town than anywhere else.

For an occasional weekend away I might get a car from a regular hire company as they workout cheaper for longer distance.

I suppose I never drove that much before in the UK, never really had to commute as I always try and live within walking distance to work, although I would sometimes drive if it was bad weather, but that was because public transport wasn't really an option for that, the buses were frequently backed up in the rush hour traffic and all would arrive at once instead of being evenly staggered, meaning long waits in the rain where it would have been quicker to walk anyway.

I don't have a lot of money, some might even say that I don't have money.

I drive a Citroen Saxo 1.0 year 2000 in the golden colour and the incredible sense of freedom it gives me is strong enough where I don't care how much a car costs ( It cost 350€), I don't care for luxury, I mean my radio stopped working about three years ago.

I still remember my father telling me many years ago, not being able to drive is like not being able to read or write, you're basically illiterate, and to some extent I have to agree.

Having a car gives me the same feeling of freedom that I've felt when I was able to walk again after getting my legs messed up.

Previous generations would just go out for a ride, take the car out on Sunday and and enjoy the scenery. We just don't do that anymore, either because we're more concerned about the environmental effects of driving, or that we just have more interesting things to do.

Not to mention, when this idea of "the freedom of a car" came about, even many smaller cities still had decent transit systems, and were denser. A car truly was freedom, because you could choose to walk downtown, or take the car, or go to the next city over because they have a really nice cafe that you like. Nowadays if you want to go anywhere, unless you're lucky enough to live in a dense city with good transit, there's no choice. It's not freedom anymore, it's a sentence.

I think as time progresses, I have truly learned to dislike my car(s). Insurance where I am is out of control (one of the highest in the nation), a new car is so far out of reach it is not funny, and used ones cost far more than the last new car I purchased. I think as others have noted, there may be a number of factors leading to people not wanting them... A few young people I know do not have cars, when asked the reasons are typically money (biggest one) and pure need / desire. I think when we were young it was as symbol of freedom. I think now it is (rightfully so) either a status symbol to some, or a ball and chain that costs money just sitting in your driveway (maintenance, depreciation, insurance).

What I really dislike though is living in a place that's made for cars. I miss walking to a grocery store to pick up a few things, walking to a friend's to hang out or just walking to a bar or restaurant to meet up. I've lived in the American suburbs now (mostly due to affordability) and hasn't had that experience in a long time. However, I recently had to do a unusual trip to a city in Germany near where I grew up and stayed at a downtown hotel. I mentioned to a friend that I was there and he texted me that he and his girlfriend happened to be having dinner in a restaurant not far away. Just being able to walk over and sit outside on a street filled with other diners, playing children and some guy playing piano was incredible. I'm not sure if this is all due to car centricity or other circumstances like having childhood friends in that city, it was a beautiful summer day, I was going through a tough emergency and seeing friends is extra nice then. However, given all the caveats I don't think I'd headed over to meet them if I had needed to get into a car, find parking etc since it was very short notice and I didn't know if I had 10 minutes or 3 hours till I had to go back to the emergency situation.

What I do know is that I do badly want more of that all the time!

To me cars, equal freedom. I grew up in a small neighborhood, I rode bikes to my friends houses there but my neighborhood was so far removed from other places and stores that there was no other place to go. Getting my license at 16 opened so many doors for me. Now I could go hang out at my other friends houses that lived 10-15 miles away from me. I could get a job, go to the store and movies, and just cruse around without having my parents question me. I didn't have a cell phone back then, so being able to leave and not be contacted was glorious.

For college I moved out to the Texas Panhandle. When gas was cheap I'd often go out for long drives into the country with friends, to talk, so explore and see what was out there, to visit family, and to make beer runs because our city was dry meaning you had to go out of town to buy a six pack.

When I have had extended periods of not having a vehicle I have get a visceral sense of foreboding and dread. I feel like a caged animal, unable to leave any situation, escape in case of danger. These feelings mildly lessen if public transit is available, but they are still there. Having any kind of vehicle feels like safety as I know I can flee if I need to, even if I don't.

I love having a car! I can't imagine not having a car when you have KIDS! Driving them to their various sports games, with a car full of their equipment. Going camping with them. Getting groceries for a family of 5.

I can't imagine doing that on public transport.

My Boomer parents, on the other hand, own five or six cars, including several Corvettes and still go on long drives just for fun. We just can't understand each other.

I also live in a place now that has a "car culture," like people come to visit for races and car shows, and to do scenic drives in their exotic Ferrari and Lamborghini sports cars. To a first approximation, it's all Boomers.

People who collect things, or have a workshop in their garage, or go fishing, or hunting, or real hiking, or any outdoor activity really, or who have children (especially more than one).

If I lived in the city, I would probably get rid of my car and just rent one when I needed it. But I just don't really want to live in the city because none of the stuff I enjoy most is there.

Absolutely no question, living in the city (in this case, Manhattan/NYC), a car is a liability. Parking was either insanely expensive or a game of musical chairs 2X per week as the no parking times for the streetsweepers come up (and that was decades ago).

But anywhere else, the car is basically a necessity. Doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to be. I keep looking at electric motorcycles/scooters for a relatively short commute, but not keen on the hazards (and I'm not risk averse; I've had sportscar racing licenses & experience, rock climbing, etc., but when surgeons I know call motorcycles "donor-cycles", I take the hint).

What is sad is that only rarely is driving fun anymore. A long drive in the country on a nice day was a real joy, but there's just too much traffic now...

When I was in Europe, my daily routine was get up, grab a donut from the corner shop connected to my flat, walk one block to the subway. If I was lucky, there would be a tram waiting at the other subway station and I could just jump on, or walk the 8 blocks to the office. When I stayed at the office late, the subway was closed but I could always take the night tram the long, long way around.

It sounds complicated, but it really isn't. You buy a ticket, then you can simply walk onto any form of public transit. Subway, tram, busses, even a ferry over the river. And it cost the equivalent of $1.50 to go all the way across one of the largest cities in Europe. It's easy and pleasant, and leaves you free to read a book or work on your laptop if you really want.

Meanwhile in the US, I have to maintain this car, I have to pay something like $30/week in gas and parking. I have to deal with our inadequately maintained roads that damage my car. I also have to deal daily with the incredibly high-stress situation of not letting other drivers fucking kill me. I have at minimum two close calls a week.

I could take the bus here, but it turns a 20 minute commute into 2 hours.

I'd take a subway and a sidewalk 100% of the time. Zero question, no hesitation. It's simply superior in all ways.

The average sale price is skewed by people choosing luxury purchases by buying larger (and fancier) than necessary vehicles. Also can be skewed by vehicles lasting longer in the first place, meaning poorer people do not need to buy cars as often, but richer people can choose to buy cars more often.

Used car prices have really went nuts since mid 2020 though, well beyond what can be normalised out. I'm not sure that's long enough to explain the phenomena on it's own, it certainly started before young people wanted to buy cars in 2021, but if you're looking for where it got more expensive for young drivers the very recent used car price explosion is it.

https://automobiles.honda.com/civic

So while I'm sure costs today have pushed people who were on the fence, there are so many other things to spend money on now. And cars are just...boring.

As one data point, the 2004 Corolla LE's MSRP of $13,570 is $22,063 in 2023 dollars. The 2023 Corolla LE's MSRP is $21,550. And that's a larger and more featureful car.

Used cars are still really expensive though.

Or maybe a reflection of higher expectations? Housing, healthcare, and vehicles are all examples of things that both cost more and are much more advanced than the same version previous generations had.

Also young people are living in cities more than previous generations and those cities are denser. The value prop of a car, price aside is less than it was for previous generations.

Advice to younger generation: forego that shiny toy and invest your hard-earned money.

As young person who has fallen out of love with cars (despite once having earned my money driving): It is not as simple as that.

Money plays a huge role for sure, and the more you live in an environment where cars are needed the more this is true. But living in a big european city I can assure you that for most people my age not owning a car isn't a thing you do because you couldn't afford one. The benefits of owning a car just don't outweight the cost of having to constantly think of caring for it.

Most of my daily mobility I can do on foot and with a bicycle, with the benefit that my commute takes half the time of a typical rush hour commute for the same route. I need a car if I need to transport something which is roughly once every 3 to 4 months and then renting one is a good option.

I think what you mean is that enough Americans are stupid enough with money to pay 47k$ for a car (or worse, a 15mg truck/jeep), plenty of $15-25k cars exist, 45k$ cars just look cheaper with 5-7 years financing.

Have you compared to how things used to be? These numbers all seem to assume that it used to be much cheaper relative to income. That seems like a rosy look at the past but the numbers don't support that assumption.

Yes it would be dumb for a young person to pay 47K for a new car! (I'd say it's financially dumb for any person of any age, unless very rich, to pay 47K for a depreciating car.)

Since when do young people (on average) buy new cars? Aside from wealthy families, that was never a thing.

My first car cost $500 in 1988 was 20 years old with the floorboard rusting away so the road was visible through the floor while driving. And a starter that didn't work so it had to be push started every time. That's $1264 in todays dollars. That doesn't buy much, but I see a handful of beaters on craigslist that can be had for that money, and most seem nicer than the rusted beater I bought for $500.

My first new car (nothing fancy, a Mazda) cost 42% of my gross salary at the time.

A Mazda 3 can be had for $23K today, so at a similar price proportion a $55K salary would feel the same as when I bought.

So, none of it feels proportionally more expensive than 30+ years ago.

I think what is different today is the very high end of the market has grown a lot. There are endless cars over 100K whereas back in the 80s the list of hyper-expensive super cars was a very short one. Maybe this twists the perception of the market.

But the basic beater cars and new Toyota/Mazda/Honda/Kia-level cars are about as affordable as they ever were.

(Also, your calculation doesn’t include depreciation, which people don’t often think of as a cost, but economically it absolutely is.)

That's more than I've spent on buying, taxing, insuring, MOTing, and repairing every car I have owned since I passed my driving test nearly 30 years ago.

We live in an age of ubiquitous information. It has never been easier to learn how to repair things. Why would you pay more than most new cars cost, when you could pick up some shiter for a few hundred, run it until it breaks, and then figure out how to repair it from a couple of youtube videos?

If you think about it, the prospect of getting a loan to finance some expensive vehicle that costs tens of thousands of euros/dollars and then paying loads more every month for insurance, taxes, maintenance, and fuel is not very appealing. Some people spend many hundreds of dollars of their own money every month on a thing that they arguably could do without. And then there is parking as well. Parking is not cheap in bigger cities. There are cities where you need a mortage to be able to afford to buy the right to have your own parking place.

If you add all of that up, you can free up quite a nice budget for alternative ways to get around. I use taxis/ubers when I need them. I walk short distances or use a bike (nice and its good for me). I can hop on public transport at a reasonable cost. Total cost for all of this per month is probably around 50 euros in a typical month. I have a lease bike that costs me 22/month. The rest is public transport and an occasional uber. I technically also have access to car sharing but I rarely use that. Price is similar to an Uber and Uber is more convenient for me.

So, that's my day to day travel needs covered. I don't need a car for that and here in Germany, even a really shitty old car would probably cost me way more than that. I could double or triple my uber usage and it would still be cheaper.

For longer distance, I take trains and the occasional plane. If I need a car, I rent one. Happens maybe a few times a year. Total cost for car rental would be at best a 1000-1500 in an average year (including fuel). I can't make a case for owning a vehicle to cover any of that. And I don't think I ever will.

For the future, self driving cars might add some more options and flexibility. Getting a self driving car to pick me up would allow me to be driven while I nap at night to some far away destination. Door to door service, private, comfortable, etc. No need to own a car for that. And that could probably be cheaper than a train/flight + hotel. Not that hard to build a business around having something like that with some luxury options. Why would you ever own a car if you can get something like that to pick you up to go wherever on a moment's notice? How often could you do that before it becomes cheaper to own the car? Self driving will turn car rental on its head. You don't go some place to pick up the car. You get picked up by the car.

Will also add.

- Why buy a new car when one cannot afford a proper home to put it in? - Why buy a new car when one cannot be sure about their job security? - Why buy a new car when there's less of a need to be in an office every weekday?

But wait it gets better. Some car manufacturers have come up with the innovative idea to require the car's owner to pay monthly subscription to "unlock" all the features of the car they bought.

Yes, why indeed are young people losing interest in cars.

In doing that, though, I've discovered that cars are kind of miserable! Walking, biking, and riding the train are all much more pleasant ways of getting from one place to another. I feel more engaged with the world around me and more active. I also have a little kid and feel much more concerned these days about car crashes (with cars, but especially with pedestrians).

So with all that, we're trying to form a plan to move to a larger city that prioritizes other forms of transit over cars. It'll be more expensive. Although maybe it'll all even out if we stop driving?

For comparison, back in December 2020 I bought a 2-year old Ford Focus with 13,000 miles on the clock for £11,500, my insurance is £25 a month, but my fuel is closer to £160 a month, for around 10k miles a year.

It helps that it's a 1 litre 3 cylinder engine (although still puts out a respectable 125bhp, which is more than enough with 6 gears for motorway driving) and on long journeys I'm getting 50mpg.

For a country that seems built around needing a car (unless you live in a city with decent public transit) it seems ridiculous so many people are now priced out of it.

But now, the young don't want to dedicate their lives to the car anymore. They have other priorities, other dreams. Maybe they prefer to let go of the car and eat good food instead of a cheap pasta diet, things like that.

I bought a 3 year old used car in '09 for $14500 for cash. Since then I've spent a grand total of about $3000 on repair and maintenance. My insurance is about $700 / yr. I spend about another ~ $650 / yr on gas. My total costs have been less than $2500 / yr all in.

You're also not accounting for the value of your time. My 30 minute commute to the office would turn into at least 90m on public transit. That's just one example. It's death by a thousand cuts. At even 1/3rd of hourly rate that most of us make, the cost in lost time is tens of thousands a year.

Well, I live in The Netherlands and the place where I work is not very reachable by public transport. The 138 trains per day between Amsterdam and The Hague is all very nice and so on but even in the Netherlands people who live in a village will in many cases be somewhat isolated if they don't own a car.

But it does breakdown or be worse with slightly more complicated routes. Like I used to travel from smaller city to bigger city to other big city. And in the end public transport was probably 50% if not longer in time. First 15-20 minutes to station, then 45 minutes with local train. Wait for intercity, ~2 hours and 30 minutes or get lift to destination. Compared to straight 2 hours from door to door with car.

And this is with perfectly serviceable train network with plenty enough trains. Or at max capacity.

If you're going from the Hague central station to Amsterdam central station, sure. Now plan a more typical commute from say the Hague Wateringen to the over Amstel industrial estate (It takes two times as as driving) Play around with real life scenarios. Say you're going from Amsterdam Osdorp to your work in Utrecht Lageweide. It takes twice with transit as if you were to drive even with traffic. Most Dutch people drive, especially those that can afford to.

A train is great for Rotterdam-Hague-Amsterdam, not so good for visiting the Bosch museum in 's-Hertogenbosch.

Holland has a great road system and parking everywhere. The perfect place for a car owner.

First, let's establish that the Netherlands is a car country. We have 11 million cars on a population of 17 million. On a typical day, 1 million people use public transport. Cars are the norm, not trains or bicycles.

Public transport is rarely faster, not even in the most idyllic example that you give where you go from big city to big city. The thing you conveniently forget to consider is that nobody lives near the station of city A and then also works very closely to the station of city B. It almost always includes additional travel towards A and from B. Cycling, trams, buses, multiple stops in both directions. It adds up.

To illustrate how absurdly slow public transport can be, a personal example. I used to live directly behind a train station in a mid-sized city. Doesn't get much better than that, right?

Let's explore the commute to work, some 60km away...

I have to get up early and be there some 10 mins before departure to secure somewhat of a reasonable spot. Next, I'm on route to the first big city station. This route is slow, it stops 5 times along the way as everybody needs to connect to a big hub to get where they need to be.

I arrive at the hub, where there's a 20 minute connection wait to take the train to the big city destination. This route is longer but fast, no stops along the way.

I get out and have a 10 minute connection wait for the bus to take me to the place closest to work, after which there's a 5-10 minute work.

Total commute time: 2.5 hours single way. To move 60km. And that's living behind a train station and working at one of the countries' largest employers.

What works really well in the Netherlands is living within a cycling radius from work, every other option sucks.

This makes any trip much more difficult. Anyway I had to have the car for work. I hated that thing and the consultancy job.

Because some people don’t live in Amsterdam or The Hague.

Taking public transportation will take me over twice the time, and that’s when there’s no outage or delay.

“But traffic jams!” I hear you say. Well, the % time in traffic jams is drastically less for me than the % time lost due to missing a transfer, a delayed train or a canceled train.

Traffic jams are annoying but not very common or large, and will only rarely cause me to miss an appointment. Also, you just use cruise control and wait.

Experiencing a delay, cancelation or missing a transfer is almost guaranteed for any trip I make, and this usually means waiting another 30 mins for the next train or bus, and trying to figure out what I need to do to get to my destination (finding alternative trains)

All while being more expensive and less comfortable than just driving somewhere. If it were (drastically) cheaper, I could convince myself to take the time loss. But it is not, it is literally more expensive to take the train or bus than to drive if you already own a car.

I used to wholeheartedly agree with this. I lived in a very parking-constrained area. Zipcar had cars with dedicated spots on random corners throughout town, which was extremely convenient! At least prior to 2020...

Then the pandemic hit, and the number of package delivery trucks skyrocketed, along with doordash, uber eats, etc. And also just a general decrease in people's willingness to follow parking rules and signs. In the final year of my Zipcar membership before cancellation, literally 100% of my rentals involved dealing with a blocked parking spot when trying to return the car. I just don't think Zipcar's concept is viable anymore.

Because some people, like me, find driving to be blissful and elating, and I will never not take the opportunity to do it.

Although as many of the other commenters noted, one reason that driving in some places in the country is doable is that many others choose alternatives, themselves made attractive by high quality infrastructure.

Subreddits like r/solarpunk, r/fuckcars, r/notjustbikes, along with the push for 15 minute cities are a testament that young people dont want to be in the grip of petrol companies or owning a car as they are not sustainable, cause traffic, accidents, and on and on.

Is it because of this intense fear of getting a job that was starting to emerge when I was young and seems to have really taken off since?

I am not interested in owning a "house", too expensive, there is little to no reason to strap myself with long term responsibilities.

I am also not interested in drinking, given all evidence on how bad alcohol is, I am not keen on destroying the only tool I have that allows me to live as well as I do. Unless of course you mean drinking for social reasons, which is another thing entirely but I don't do that either.

I get that a car is the only realistic option in the 'great outdoors', but anywhere even slightly dense, they're a pain to buy, to maintain, to drive, to park. If you want the fun of driving, go to a track. If you want to get around, there are often better options. Car ownership seem like an outdated aspiration, IMHO.

Cars are really just trash technology that has made city life worse.

Older generation have an emotional attachment to cars, and project a lot of virtuous attributes onto it (freedom, independence, wealth, ...). Younger generations just do that less. They accurately see what cars are.

The young have that luxury. They're not at that age yet where they need to capitulate to the cult of the car. Once you have children, the thousands of vectors pushing a family in all directions, car life in some burb is the only one that's financially affordable.

It's the other way around. Youth reject cars because cars are objectively shit. As people get older, options dwindle, aspirations get adjusted, and people submit.

Having to own a car and drive it everywhere every day can be pretty miserable. Being able to afford owning a car and not having to drive it all the time is wonderful. Freedom of having an option to just go anywhere at any time is not something I ever thought I would appreciate so much before I had to get a car for security reasons. But it absolutely is a luxury as even mediocre public or commercial services will get you 90% of own car utility. And good public or commercial services can eliminate whole categories of car use cases.

But whenever I can avoid driving, I prefer to do that.

Also if you're planning to have a family, a car is essential. Herding children on packed public transport is a no-no. I can imagine it being easier to walk with children if you're living in high trust communities where all amenities are available within walking distance, but that might also be a wealth thing too.

Is your argument that those national statistics are being driven entirely by changes in rich cities?

That the changes in driving habits have been so large that it drags down the bottom 60%.

The article says that in 1997 43% of 16-year olds had a driver's licence but by 2020 it had fallee to 20%.

Since you're claiming that's entirely driven by the richest 40% let's do some simple math to quantify the implications of your claim.

If richest 40% of 16 year olds had 0 driver's licences... Not a single one in the entire country... Then the national rate would have fallen to 25% not 20%. So the richest 40% must actually have NEGATIVE driver's for the math to work out on your claim.

Or maybe it isn't just a phenomenon limited the rich places.

I'm generally handy and usually perform my own maintenance on my vehicles. As such, I tend to drive 10-20 year old Japanese vehicles. I remember once when I confidently told my partner that I'd swap their burnt out headlight bulb, no problem. Imagine my surprise when I found out that a 2010ish GM sedan recommended taking the front bumper off to access the headlight housing.

If every little thing that goes wrong requires a multi-hundred dollar maintenance bill at a minimum, it's no wonder people want a viable alternative.

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2021/11/3/our-self-impos...

I assumed it was because countries like India and China are following different trends - lower initial car ownership rates, more two-wheelers on the road, but a growing middle class.

Among teens, their basic needs are often already met by their family, teens are less likely to work than a generation ago, and a lot of their interaction is online anyway. Teen physical independence dropped for other reasons and the appeal of cars went with it.

For adults I think you're right about only high income people being able to live in neighborhoods with close amenities, but also reliance on delivery services, Uber/Lyft are also ways that high income lifestyle can make you dependent on cars while not owning one yourself.

1. Spend thousands of dollars a year on gas, whether you want to or not

2. Buy auto insurance

3. Pay for routine maintenance like oil changes and brakes

And none of this is by choice.

I hate cars. Yet I am forced to own one in order to live.

But then the Internet become a thing. For some of us sooner rather than later (I started earlier, as a tween, doing FidoNet and running a BBS). That shift online came with a tremendous increase in seat time in front of the computer.

So now I'd have to throw the kids out of the house and lock the door behind them, or they'll happily park in front of their computer playing games, watching YouTube, texting with friends that are literally across the street.

No wonder young people no longer see the car as freedom, they've lost the interest in even leaving their house, much less driving into the wilderness to take a hike or see the stars, etc. Sure, not all of them, but there is a very obvious pattern. And older generations aren't immune, of course, the allure of sitting on your butt in front of a computer screen appeals to all ages. But the older generations started with more habitual roaming habits.

I'm an older millennial but enjoy living in a community where I only have to get into a car a couple times a week, but can spend the reset of the time walking or biking around my community.

"In 2017, the average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Toronto, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 96 minutes. 34% of public transit riders ride for more than two hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 14 minutes, while 10% of riders wait for over twenty minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), while 25% travel for over 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) in a single direction."

Not necessarily so.

I live 2 minutes from two tram lines and two bus lines.

I live 4 minutes from a train station with a train every 15 minutes.

It takes my 12 minutes door to door to the central train station and 25 minutes door to door to a 2nd tier European airport with excellent world wide connections.

I'm a member of a car sharing cooperative with about a dozen cars within 10 minutes walking distance. I don't think that I rented one in the last two years because I just didn't need a car.

And all this has really nothing to do with my financial situation. It's just that owning a car with public transport connections within walking distance would not add to my mobility in any reasonable sense.

Personally, I am walking 40 minutes each way to go to work, or uber in the morning and walking in the afternoon. It's not that I can't afford a car. I am just not interested in owning one.

Also, I'm pretty sure that many "anti car" teens still know someone, like their parents or a friend, that owns a car and can help them out occasionally.

Sure there are those who cannot afford a car, but that isn't what the article is about.

Maybe the Zoomer/Millenial focus on luxury goods has lead to a world where people aren't interested in vehicles outside of the high end?

For me a car isn't for getting around the city or getting to work (I much prefer walking/biking/taking public transport for that), but getting away from the city. To get to my favourite walking trail by the sea or the local ski slope is a 30 minute drive or 1.5+ hours by public transport. Getting to the slightly larger ski resort is a 90 minute drive or almost 4 hours by public transport. Getting to a national park I like visiting is a 2.5 hour drive and virtually impossible to get to by public transport. With public transport I can vacation in most major cities in Europe. With a car I can vacation in tiny beautiful out of the way places I never would have even thought of visiting before I got car.

I loathe car dependence too, but I suspect a lot is linked to frugality: I grew up with gas prices approaching $5 a gallon and it certainly didn't feel freeing to pay that to go literally anywhere (plus maintenance and upfront costs and insurance, of course).

This is largely just nonsense for a lot of modern cars. I’m at 80k in 4 years and have only done oil changes and tyres.

My mother only had her first “big” repair on her car at 140k after 10 years.

Cars are more reliable than they’ve ever been.

There's different ways of living a life, and the current trend shouldn't be seen as car demonization. I see it more as a new generation seeing the current US car-centric society and pushing for a better (for the life they want to live) alternative.

If you had business in a different city that's a few hours distance, and you miss the last bus of the day, you'll need to wait at least 6-8 hours to be able to get the first bus or train of the next day.

In this case you can probably still find a taxi, but then we're back to the car situation.

(EDIT: Of course the problem would also be solved if you could get a bus or train any time of the day.)

Bud, nobody is taking the car away from those kinds of use cases. It's very clear for most people that cars are necessary in those situations, and that's fine. What we're demonising is the car as the only way to go about getting from A to B. If you watch some of the urban planning videos on the topic, or lurk the r/f*cars subreddit you'll quickly see that most people also* want to make the driving experience better! And by better they don't mean to build one more lane, but sensible infrastructure that makes sense for everybody, not just the cars. The whole point is about inclusion: why isn't using a car unavoidable?

I tick all of those boxes and never had a car.

I live in the city, walking and using public transit. Toddlers love to walk and to be carried in the stroller.

Cars from the suburbs are a constant inconvenience for us living in inner cities: they are a danger to pedestrians and cyclists alike, they make our streets noisy and our air polluted.

If people liked the suburbs so much, they would stay there. But no, they want the convenience and services of the city while shoving the externalities of their lifestyle onto other people.