Skip to main content

Social media could be behind less young adults using cars, say Dutch researchers

The development of social media could be behind a drop in car usage by young adults, according to new research. Kennisinstituut voor Mobiliteitsbeleid, the Dutch knowledge institute on mobility management, found that people in their twenties in the Netherlands, as well as in Norway, Sweden, the US, England, Germany and Japan, are making less use of cars. They say the burgeoning popularity of social media often makes it less important for people to be physically present, and because young adults tend settle
January 9, 2013 Read time: 1 min
The development of social media could be behind a drop in car usage by young adults, according to new research.

Kennisinstituut voor Mobiliteitsbeleid, the Dutch knowledge institute on mobility management, found that people in their twenties in the Netherlands, as well as in Norway, Sweden, the US, England, Germany and Japan, are making less use of cars. They say the burgeoning popularity of social media often makes it less important for people to be physically present, and because young adults tend settle in urban areas, cars are less practical.

The Institute says it is unsure how this will develop over the years and makes no recommendations on transport development. However, the institute expects an annual increase in overall car usage of 1% to 2%.

Related Content

  • Tolling model for funding road development
    April 4, 2017
    Road tolling is being used worldwide as a way to develop highway infrastructure, with road users paying for access. Tolled roads are not a new concept and date back centuries, but in recent times, as governments have struggled to fund highway development programmes directly, tolling has increased in popularity worldwide. In Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, tolled highways are now extremely well established. The specifics of the business models vary but state-owned toll-road firms ty
  • Tolling model for funding road development
    April 4, 2017
    Road tolling is being used worldwide as a way to develop highway infrastructure, with road users paying for access. Tolled roads are not a new concept and date back centuries, but in recent times, as governments have struggled to fund highway development programmes directly, tolling has increased in popularity worldwide. In Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, tolled highways are now extremely well established. The specifics of the business models vary but state-owned toll-road firms ty
  • ARTBA announces winners of its student video contest
    September 19, 2012
    The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) has announced the winners of its annual student video contest. A group of 18 high school students from North Carolina and three graduate and post-graduate students from New England were named winners. Sponsored by ARTBA’s Research and Education Division (RED), the contest challenges grade school and post-secondary students to develop a brief video that explores issues relating to America’s transportation network. Students were asked to addres
  • The DURABROADS project targets safer mobility
    April 2, 2014
    The innovative DURABROADS project will help deliver a sustained reduction of fatalities in the long term, writes the ERF’s José Diez In 2012, Europe recorded the lowest number of fatalities since the first data were collected. All in all, fatalities were down by 9% in 2012, which means that 3,000 lives were saved that year. Should the current pace continue, we can be confident that the ambitious objective of reducing fatalities by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010, will be reached. To achieve the goals of