McKinsey&Company
Drive less, ride more
.
| • |
Out of the fast lane. As the largest generation in the US, millennials are starting to influence an aspect of infrastructure that hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years: transportation planning. A recent study found a widening generation gap in driving habits, with millennials driving less than both Gen X and baby boomers. Millennial city dwellers tend to walk, bike, or use public transit. They’ve also had less of a need to go out, thanks to remote work and online shopping. [Quartz] |
|
|
| • |
Wheels on the bus. In the US, public transit has typically best served commuters working a regular 9-to-5 schedule, but those aren’t the riders who have stuck around. When ridership fell steeply during the pandemic, transit officials realized they should focus on the people who most rely on subways and buses: communities of color, lower-income residents, and people who don’t own cars. Some city transit agencies have made changes to better serve these populations—for example, adding more off-peak service or reducing or eliminating fares. [Wired] |
|
|
| • |
In the open air. Traveling in open air has been booming during the pandemic, observe two executives from ridesharing companies Uber and Via in a joint interview. They point to the expanding bike “superhighways” of Berlin and London as evidence of cycling’s rising popularity. In the future, they say, expect “a permanent redistribution of street space from cars to people, in the form of new sidewalks, bike lanes, and green spaces,” with car-free greenways and shared streets becoming “lasting fixtures of the urban landscape.” |
|
|
| • |
The 15-minute city. In the next five years, some big cities will “take steps to roundly reject the private car as a major component of urban mobility,” predicts one of the executives. Already, in Barcelona, car-free “superblocks” give pedestrians free rein of nine-block neighborhoods. Paris is pursuing the “15-minute city” model, where everything a resident needs is 15 minutes away on foot or by bike. Read our interview for perspectives on how new trends could change the urban-mobility landscape. |
|
|
| — Edited by Gwyn Herbein |
|
This email contains information about McKinsey’s research, insights, services, or events. By opening our emails or clicking on links, you agree to our use of cookies and web tracking technology. For more information on how we use and protect your information, please review our privacy policy.
|
|
You received this email because you subscribed to the On Point newsletter.
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2022 | McKinsey & Company, 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007
|
|
|
|
