U.S. Car Fleet Shrinks Last Year
As reported by the Earth Policy Institute, The number of cars owned by Americans actually shrunk last year by 4 million cars, or about 2%. This is rather notable in that it is one of the few, if only time, it has happened. At the same time, ridership on public transportation has climbed 9 percent from 2005 to 2008. One year hardly makes a trend, but is it possible the american love affair with the car is coming to an end? Or is this simply a result of the current economic slump? Perhaps somewhere in between. I know of several people, living in more urban areas than Fort Collins who manage to survive quit nicely without a car. My friend Amy in Oakland is one. She doesn’t own a car, and relies mostly on public transportation, which is excellent in the bay area. She also belongs to a car share service, so if she needs a car for a particular reason she can get one at a reasonable cost.
We shall see where this trend goes. With Americans focus on scaling back and simplifying, this trend could be here to stay.
