Skip to main content

America THINKS 2014 mobility survey

The most recent America THINKS survey from civil engineering consulting and construction management firm HNTB examines the public’s views on the country’s current and future mobility trends, finding that many Americans fear the potential for local infrastructure failure and see a clear need for the industry to offer the spark of innovation moving forward. The survey polled a random nationwide sample of 1,152 Americans in 2013 using an e-mail invitation and online survey. Nine in ten (90 per cent) Ame
February 10, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The most recent America THINKS survey from civil engineering consulting and construction management firm HNTB examines the public’s views on the country’s current and future mobility trends, finding that many Americans fear the potential for local infrastructure failure and see a clear need for the industry to offer the spark of innovation moving forward.

The survey polled a random nationwide sample of 1,152 Americans in 2013 using an e-mail invitation and online survey.

Nine in ten (90 per cent) Americans think at least one mode of US transportation needs a spark of innovation, and an overwhelming majority (93 per cent) think at least one US transportation mode is in need of repair.

A 95 per cent majority thinks it is important to rebuild physical infrastructure so it survives increasingly intense weather patterns; 59 per cent believes this construction is very crucial.

While many Americans see a need for a proactive attitude, with nearly two in three, or 65 per cent fearing that a local infrastructure failure will occur within a year, nearly seven in ten (69 per cent) think construction of physical infrastructure in the US is typically done after a natural disaster to repair damage rather than beforehand to prevent it.

In the world of wheels, nearly nine in ten Americans travel by car, with less than one in four using public buses and even fewer travelling on subways, light rail or bicycles. Asked how they would change their routine if local mobility were seamless, nearly two in three (63 per cent) think the modes of transportation in their area need to be more efficient, and more than half (53 per cent) think it is difficult to access different modes of transportation.  Seventy per cent would alter their actions if local mobility was seamless, with many taking public transit more and driving less, with some even walking more.

Looking toward the future, with the rise of new technologies, many Americans think transportation should be different 20 years from now. Ideas range from more options for green travel, less reliance on personal vehicles and automated transportation to high-speed rail and self-driving cars.

Related Content

  • Tolling faces up to unprecedented challenge
    October 9, 2020
    The next five years are likely to see a number of changes – but the tolling industry will be equal to them, thinks the IBTTA’s Bill Cramer. The best minds in the business are on the case…
  • Self-driving shared vehicles ‘could take most cars off city streets’
    May 1, 2015
    Fleets of TaxiBots and AutoVots could deliver today’s mobility with significantly fewer cars, says a new study. Self-driving shared cars could make 90 per cent of conventional cars in mid-sized cities superfluous, according to the study published by the International Transport Forum at the OECD. Even during peak hours, only one third of the current number of cars would be needed to provide the same number of trips as today. ITF researchers used actual transport data from Lisbon, Portugal, to model the
  • Owning a car will be a thing of the past in less than a decade, say researchers
    January 10, 2017
    UK automotive executives expect that more than half of today’s car owners will not want to own a car in less than a decade, according to KPMG’s Global Automotive Executive Survey 2017. The survey found that 74 per cent of UK automotive executives think that until 2025, more than half of car owners today will not want to own a vehicle, as self-driving technology and mobility as a service will take priority. The report findings revealed that 62 per cent of UK automotive executives view diesel technolog
  • New research finds distracted driving on the rise on I-95
    May 12, 2014
    Transurban-Fluor and AAA Mid-Atlantic have released the second annual report on distracted drivers on I-95 in Northern Virginia, which found that despite major construction, distracted driving is a growing problem on the heavily travelled corridor. The report, part of the Orange Cones, No Phones campaign focused on reducing distracted driving in the 95 Express Lanes construction zone, found that the number of frequent I-95 drivers likely to use their cell phone while driving has increased from 56 percent i