The population of the United States continues to be highly mobile. The automobile increasingly is the means chosen to achieve that mobility. However, in terms of percentage increase of travel over time, most measures influencing travel show some saturation effects. The number of vehicles per licensed driver shows little increase over the last five years. The growth in the number of drivers' licenses is slowing in the nineties to an increase of only about 1 percent per year. The annual increase in total vehicle miles travelled is only moderate, at about two and a half percent in the early nineties. Automobiles and other privately owned vehicles (POVs) are widely owned by all groups except those in the very lowest income brackets. The vehicle fleet continues in heavy use for many years. Individual travel is most often for family and personal business and social and recreational purposes, with travel to and from work ranking third. Women have obtained licenses in large numbers over the last several decades and their travel patterns differ somewhat from those of men. Aging of the population is being reflected in changing travel demand patterns. Both consumer travel demand patterns and attitudes expressed in the recent U.S. Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) have significant implications for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) services.
Abstract