Skip to main content

Has motorisation in the US peaked?

A new study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute analysed recent changes in the United States in both the ownership of light-duty vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans) and the corresponding distance driven. The study looked at the rates per person and per household over the period 1984 to 2015. The main findings were: The vehicle-ownership rates per person and per household both reached their maxima in 2006. The two rates for 2015 are down, on average, 4.4 per cent f
February 15, 2017 Read time: 1 min
A new study by the 5647 University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute analysed recent changes in the United States in both the ownership of light-duty vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and vans) and the corresponding distance driven. The study looked at the rates per person and per household over the period 1984 to 2015.

The main findings were:

The vehicle-ownership rates per person and per household both reached their maxima in 2006. The two rates for 2015 are down, on average, 4.4 per cent from their maxima, although they have rebounded, on average, 1.4 per cent from the post-maximum minima reached in 2012 and 2013.

The distance-driven rates per person and per household both reached their maxima in 2004.

The two rates for 2015 are down, on average, 7.8 per cent from their maxima, although they have rebounded, on average, 2.1 per cent from the post-maximum minima reached in 2013.

Related Content

  • January 3, 2017
    UK commuters spend up to six times as much of their salary on rail fares as other European passengers
    Rail commuters returning to work this week will face fresh fare increases, while spending up to six times as much of their salary on rail fares as European passengers on publicly owned railways, new research by the Action for Rail campaign has revealed. UK workers on average salaries will spend 14 per cent of their income on a monthly season ticket from Luton to London (£387), or 11 per cent from Liverpool to Manchester (£292). By contrast, similar commutes would cost passengers only two per cent of t
  • January 29, 2016
    Front crash prevention slashes police-reported rear-end crashes, says IIHS
    Vehicles equipped with front crash prevention are much less likely to rear-end other vehicles, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found in the first study of the feature's effectiveness using US police-reported crash data. The study found that systems with automatic braking reduce rear-end crashes by about 40 per cent on average, while forward collision warning alone cuts them by 23 per cent. The automatic braking systems also greatly reduce injury crashes.
  • December 4, 2015
    Emissions ‘rising too high despite the reduction targets’
    An analysis by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland of the emission targets from 159 countries indicates that, although nearly all the world’s countries have announced targets for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, more ambitious emission reductions are needed in order to limit global warming to two degrees. In addition, developing countries have recently joined the effort to slow down climate change by setting targets for reducing emissions. However, despite those targets, VTT says emissi
  • June 22, 2016
    Awards for innovative of intelligent road studs installations
    An intelligent road stud solution deployed on the A720 Sheriffhall Roundabout, Edinburgh, Scotland, has won two separate industry awards, the CIHT John Smart Road Safety Award at the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation annual awards and an award at the 14th annual Scottish Transport Awards. Clearview Intelligence, working alongside BEAR Scotland and current incumbents Amey, for Transport Scotland, installed the studs on the six-arm roundabout, which connects several important routes, incl