Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

Millennials Drive A Lot — But Wish They Didn’t

Baby Boomers love cars. Their kids? Not so much.

That's the upshot of a new survey by the research firm Arity, which reveals a stark generational divide about cars and driving — and how few alternatives Americans of any age have for getting around.

The main common ground? Everyone — Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials — drives. And they drive a lot. The average person in the study, by an arm of Allstate Insurance, spent about seven hours a week in his or her car, logging about 107 miles. Americans spend about three times as much time driving every years as they do on vacation.

But here's where the young-uns differ: More than two-thirds of Baby Boomers said their car was worth more than the cost of maintenance, but only 49 percent of Millennials felt the same way.

A majority — 59 percent — of Millennials said they would "rather spend time doing more productive tasks than driving" (just 45 percent of Boomers agreed). And 48 percent of Millennials said they "enjoy most of the time spent driving" compared to 61 percent of Boomers and 51 percent of Gen Xers. About a third of Millennials said the amount of time they spend in their car is "very frustrating."

Graphic: Arity
Graphic: Arity
false

So Millennials don't share their parents "love affair" with driving, but they are mostly without alternatives. Only 13 percent of respondents said that they could "live without having access to a vehicle" According to the survey, 40 percent of everyone from all generations had never tried an alternative to driving, like public transit, biking or ride-hailing apps.

The study demonstrates that there is a great untapped demand for alternatives to driving including transit expansion and bike infrastructure. If Democratic Congressional leaders take up an infrastructure bill in the next few months, this should be a big focus — if they want to lock in the younger generation, that is.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Thursday’s Headlines: Tisch Comes Clean Edition

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch finally commented on her department's crackdown on cyclists. Plus more news.

May 15, 2025

Tisch Rap: NYPD Criminal E-bike Summonses Surge 4,000 Percent

The NYPD wrote twice as many criminal court summonses to e-bike riders in two weeks than it wrote all of last year — an astronomical increase that is a remnant of a repudiated racially biased police practice.

May 15, 2025

Quiet Desperation: NYPD’s Tisch Didn’t Tell DOT About Her Crackdown on Cycling

The NYPD commissioner did not inform her counterpart at the Department of Transportation that police would begin issuing criminal summonses to cyclists.

May 15, 2025

Not the Same Ol’ MTA: Cost of Upgrading Subway Signals is Cut in Half

A new design-build strategy, plus removing old signals fully, is credited for cutting costs in half. Take that, Sean Duffy.

May 15, 2025

Lander, Labor Activists Slam Cuomo After ‘Goliath’ DoorDash Gives $1M

The donation from the the app company is seen as a way of influencing a possible future mayor to side with the tech giant.

May 14, 2025
See all posts