It seems impossible, but it's true: There are more cars in the United States than drivers.
Chart: How many drivers?
According to a 2004 Department of Energy report, the average household with two drivers owns 2.1 vehicles. Those with one driver have 1.2 vehicles.
And the ratio of cars to people is growing. In 1983 there were 555 vehicles per 1,000 people in this country; by 2001 that number grew to 670. The vehicles were getting bigger as well, with the percentage of SUVs on the road nearly quadrupling to 12.2% by 2001.
And yet we complain bitterly that freeways are gridlocked, gasoline is unaffordable and greenhouse emissions are destroying the planet. This country has had a long and wildly passionate romance with its cars, but some people are asking the question: Can a family with two or more drivers get by with just one vehicle? Two parents, two kids . . . one car?
"America was really the first country that adopted and appreciated the freedom that having your own vehicle provides, and I don't think we'll ever give that up," says Larry Webster, technical director of Car and Driver magazine. Webster has written about cars for 12 years. "I do think we will compromise, and some people are starting to realize that the smaller communities where we walked to things had their benefits, too. The pendulum is swinging back."
American Public Transportation Association President William Millar says that after a century of mostly giddy car ownership, Americans are facing the downside of hopping in their gas guzzlers and hitting the freeways.
"For nearly 100 years America invested almost exclusively in one mode of transport, the car," Millar says. "But over the last 20 years we've learned of the cost: dirty air, congested roads, dependency on unreliable sources of foreign oil. And recently, we've learned the impact on personal budgets." Add it up: The cost of driving
High gas prices and congested freeways have had little impact on some commuter habits. In fact, the share of people driving alone to work inched up from 75.7% in 2000 to 77% in 2005; that of those carpooling to work dropped from 12.2% to 10.7%; and the percentage walking to work fell to 2.5% from 2.9%.
But Millar says that the use of public transportation has grown by 32% since 1995, while the general population grew by 15% over the same period. Getting lost on the bus
And there is some evidence that a grass-roots movement toward single-car families is gaining momentum. Chris Balish, an environmental journalist
who wrote "How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of Life," said that when he started researching his book in 2003, a Google search for "car-free" netted 100,000 results. Today that same search gets nearly 2 million hits.
Several currents are at work here. For one, young adults are moving from the suburbs of their childhoods to cities where bars, restaurants, shopping, work and recreation are all within walking distance or accessible via transit. ‘The perfect, perfect system’
Meanwhile, soaring gas prices are increasingly squeezing middle-class families. And that's just part of the cost of vehicle ownership: According to the public-transport association, it costs an average of $8,580 per year to own, maintain and drive a car. Two cars: A lot more expensive
Further, cities and states have real incentive to invest in trains and buses. Studies show that property values -- read tax bases -- grow rapidly when public rail systems are built. One report found that the value of homes in one Dallas neighborhood doubled when a light-rail system was built nearby.
"City after city is finding that good public transit is good economic strategy," Millar says, adding that there is a 6:1 return on federal dollars invested in public rail systems. Public transit systems in Los Angeles, Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Dallas and Minneapolis have cleaned up their dirty, low-rent images of the 1970s and '80s, and are investing in slick technology to make them even more appealing. (For example, San Francisco's BART system now allows downloads of schedules and maps to iPods.) Cheaper than taking a cab
Local governments around the country are encouraging residents to ditch their unneeded vehicles. Arlington, Va., Denver and Dayton, Ohio, are all starting programs designed to take cars off their roads. Under Seattle's "One Less Car Challenge," residents who successfully go on a monthlong car diet get discounted memberships to bicycle clubs and -- for those who actually get rid of a vehicle -- up to $600 in credit to a car-sharing program.
Meanwhile, such services are making it easier for urbanites to opt in to a second car only when needed. For a modest registration fee, members can rent vehicles by the hour, day or week, for rates starting at around $8 per hour.
Boston-based Zipcar is the market leader, with 100,000 members sharing 3,000 vehicles in 23 North American cities plus London. (Other such services include City CarShare.) Zipcar claims to be responsible for taking 40,000 vehicles off the road in its seven years of operation.
All of which is making it easier for families like the Wasmunds to scale back to single-vehicle existence.
Two years ago the family relocated to Bountiful, Utah, outside Salt Lake City. They came from Dallas, where Steve, 32, had traveled two hours each day to his job as a cardiovascular researcher. The couple originally sold their second car to make the move easier, but once in Utah decided to remain a one-car family. Now Amy, 31, takes their Hyundai to her job as a nurse and Steve rides his bike or takes a bus. Sometimes he'll stop by the library or grocery store, with his two wheels outfitted with panniers, or take their children -- ages 10 and 11 -- to baseball practice on a detachable tandem.
Originally Steve just wanted to get out of his car and do right by the environment. But unexpected benefits of living without that second car include extra time outdoors and more family time, since there is no longer a need for gym visits.
When he does take the bus, Wasmund finds the clean, efficient system is used by "90% business people."
"I can understand the public's hesitancy to take public transportation," he said. "They think that it's just for the inner-city poor or the homeless, and that is not the case."
The cost savings have also been a pleasant surprise. "We could afford another car, but I like our situation -- even with the few inconveniences," he said. "No matter what, $8,000 could go for something more useful."
Amy also enjoys biking, Steve said, and is thinking of leaving the Hyundai home once or twice a week.
Published May 05, 2008
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