2013 Session: 717

• Are Changed Living Arrangements Influencing Youth Driver License Decline?
  Abstract: Young people in the developed world are less likely to hold a drivers license and, if they can drive, they are driving less. This is a remarkable trend which is not well understood. This paper is an empirical analysis exploring how changes in youth living arrangements, notably living with parents and postponement of child-rearing, influence youth driver licensing.A binary logistic regression model of travel survey data (1994 to 2009) for Melbourne, Australia is used to explore these issues. Results demonstrate a statistically significant link between 24-30 year olds living with parents and reduced licensing. Some 30% of this age group lived with parents and this has been trending upwards in Australian and international data. In addition, 24-30 year olds living independently with children are more likely to have a driver license. Between 14% and 21% of this age group lived independently with children and trend data shows this is in decline. Together it is theorised that these changes in living arrangements may be influential in overall licensing decline rates. Analysis also established that these living arrangements were not significant predictors of licensing rates for 18 to 23 year olds, suggesting that in this age group living with parents/children was less important than access to a household car, gender, age and employment status. Living independently with children was unlikely to be a significant influence with this group as less than 2% fell into this category.The paper considers implications of findings for policy and opportunities for future research.
  Authors: Delbosc, Alexa; Currie, Graham
  Authors: Delbosc, Alexa; Currie, Graham
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-1284
• Putting Schools on the Map: Linking Transit-Oriented Development, Households with Children, and Schools
  Abstract: Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) remains a popular strategy to achieve environmentally sustainable infill development and auto use reduction. Typically, TOD in the United States offers retail amenities and housing catered to singles, childless couples, and empty nesters. Increasingly, TOD aims to foster “complete communities,” which provide a mix of jobs, shops, community services, and homes affordable to more diverse households across a mix of incomes. These goals tend to be explicitly equity- focused and family-oriented, thus calling for a different TOD model than has typically been developed. This requires an examination of the ways in which TOD might attract households with children concerned with access to high quality schools, even when schools are outside the domain of traditional transportation and land use public agencies. In the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area region, municipal and regional leaders have developed a vision for managing expected future growth that aims to increase equity, support households with children, and create mixed income communities that includes TOD as a core strategy. This paper first reviews the TOD and transportation literature and its attention to households with children and issues of K-12 schools. Then, five exploratory case studies from the Bay Area offer insights into the opportunities and tensions that practitioners face in planning and implementing TOD that might attract families. Reflecting on the literature and case study findings, we develop a conceptual framework that outlines 10 core connections between TOD, households with children, and schools. The paper concludes with policy and research recommendations.
  Authors: Bierbaum, Ariel H; Vincent, Jeffrey M
  Authors: Bierbaum, Ariel H; Vincent, Jeffrey M
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-1674
• The Times Are They A-Changin’? Youth, Travel Mode, and the Journey to Work
  Abstract: Today’s youth live in a far different world than the youth of previous generations. They are struggling to transition into the most unwelcoming job market since the Great Depression, they are the first generation to have never known a world without the Internet, and they must surmount greater hurdles to driver’s licensing than teens of any previous generation. In this paper, we examine the effect of these momentous societal changes on the travel behavior of youth. In particular, we use data from the 1990, 2001, and 2009 National Personal/Household Travel Surveys (NP/HTS) to model the commute mode choices of young workers over time.Our analysis suggests that both the economy and changes in licensing regulations have influenced youth commute mode choice. While youth in 2009 commute by solo driving at slightly higher rates than in 2001, our analysis suggests that these rates would have been even higher in the absence of both the deep recession and changes in driver’s licensing regulations. Whether the observed effects on youth travel will be short-lived (a period effect) or more enduring (a cohort effect) remains to be seen.
  Authors: Blumenberg, Evelyn; Wander, Madeline; Taylor, Brian D.; Smart, Michael
  Authors: Blumenberg, Evelyn; Wander, Madeline; Taylor, Brian D.; Smart, Michael
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-1592
• Who Knows About Kids These Days? Analyzing Determinants of Youth and Adult Mobility Between 1990 and 2009
  Abstract: We know a great deal about the travel behavior of adults, and more recently about travel by children and the elderly, but what about teens and young adults? This question is particularly pressing because youth in the late 2000s and early 2010s (a) face the harshest economic climate in decades, which has caused much higher unemployment rates than among middle-aged adults and forced many young adults to return (“boomerang”) home, (b) use information and communication technologies (ICTs) extensively, and considerably more than their elders, and (c) are subject to increasingly stringent graduated driver’s licensing (GDL) regulations. All are dramatic societal changes to be sure, but are they affecting youth travel behavior? And it so, how? To answer these questions we examine (1) how the travel behavior of youth compares to that of older adults, (2) whether the basic determinants of youth travel have changed over time, and (3) whether the societal changes described above affect youth travel behavior. To do this we analyzed nationwide personal mobility trends (measured as person-miles of travel (PMT)) between 1990 and 2009 and find that many key determinants of travel are similar for teens, young adults, and adults: being employed, licensed, having access to cars, and residential area population density all significantly affect PMT regardless of age. By contrast, some socio-economic factors long found to influence adult travel – such as race/ethnicity and household income – are not significant for today’s teens. Finally, with the exception of employment, the effects of societal trends (ICTs, GDLs, and young adults “boomeranging” to live at home with parents) on youth travel are surprisingly muted. When it comes to recent changes in teen, youth, (and adult) travel behavior, the adage “it’s the economy, stupid” appears to hold.In analyzing nationwide trends in person-miles of travel (PMT) between 1990 and 2009, we find that many key determinants of travel behavior are largely similar for teens, young adults, and adults: being employed, licensed, having access to cars, and residential area population density all significantly affect PMT regardless of age. Other socio-economic factors long found to influence adult travel–such as race/ethnicity and household income – are not significant for today’s teens. Finally, with the exception of employment, the effects of societal trends (ICTs, GDLs and “boomeranging”) on youth travel are surprisingly muted. When it comes to recent changes in teen, youth, (and adult) travel behavior, the adage “it’s the economy, stupid” appears to hold.
  Authors: Taylor, Brian D.; Ralph, Kelcie; Blumenberg, Evelyn; Smart, Michael
  Authors: Taylor, Brian D.; Ralph, Kelcie; Blumenberg, Evelyn; Smart, Michael
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-3214
• Are Changed Living Arrangements Influencing Youth Driver License Decline?
  Authors: Delbosc, Alexa
  Authors: Delbosc, Alexa
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-1284
• Are Changed Living Arrangements Influencing Youth Driver License Decline?
  Authors: Currie, Graham
  Authors: Currie, Graham
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-1284
• Putting Schools on the Map: Linking Transit-Oriented Development, Households with Children, and Schools
  Authors: Vincent, Jeffrey
  Authors: Vincent, Jeffrey
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-1674
• The Times Are They A-Changin'? Youth, Travel Mode, and the Journey to Work
  Authors: Taylor, Brian
  Authors: Taylor, Brian
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-1592
• Who Knows About Kids These Days? Analyzing Determinants of Youth and Adult Mobility Between 1990 and 2009
  Authors: Ralph, Kelcie
  Authors: Ralph, Kelcie
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Economics; Society
  Session: 717
  Paper Number: 13-3214