Has Motorization in the U.S. Peaked?

The graph above shows the rate of gasoline consumption in the U.S. There are more graphs in a new paper by Michael Sivak (.pdf) of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute that show how the number of vehicles per person peaked in 2008, the number of miles driven peaked in 2006, and the per capita fuel consumption peaked in 2004. Part of that is explained by cars being more fuel-efficient, but other contributing factors are how people are keeping old cars longer, sharing cars, and driving less.

When I was in high school in the 1970s, my family had a half-dozen vehicles (mine had been purchased for $200), gas was around 40 cents, and “riding around” was an everyday pastime. Now my children are in high school, and we have two cars for three (soon to be four) drivers. I barely leave the house. Gas costs ten times as much, and you can no longer fix everything on a car yourself.

Now, if only we could turn the new lower demand into lower gas prices…

-via Digg