From getting your driving license as soon as you are old enough to jumping on an electric scooter

Because that is another added concern: sustainability and the rejection of fossil fuels also play a role when choosing our mode of transport. And life today doesn’t help: if we take a quick look at the situation a couple of decades ago, there are crucial elements that show this transformation. The first, already mentioned, is the progress in mobility around urban centers, where the majority of the population resides. The second, parallel to this, is the proliferation of new ways of getting around. Another fundamental aspect is the gradual incorporation of teleworking, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. And finally, job insecurity, maintenance costs and the fluctuating price of gasoline.

“The scale of values of young people has changed. It can be said categorically that there are many priorities that come before owning a car,” says Guillermo Ricarte, general director of the CreaFutur foundation, which analyzes consumer trends. “Preferences have been changing. First it was clothes, then eating out and now technology,” he sums up. “But the decisive factor is economic: there is no purchasing power,” he says. Ricarte believes that it is increasingly easy to drive without actually owning a car, by renting or sharing, and considers that the lack of purchasing power has caused a shift from ownership to temporary use: objects are chosen that do not imply a commitment, which can be used and abandoned.

At the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac) they point out that the economy is not helping, nor is concern about the future. “What happens is that, as life expectancy has lengthened, so has the life expectancy of buying a car and being an active driver,” reflected David Barrientos, head of communication for Anfac, in a report in the magazine Seguridad Vial.

Everything seems to have been delayed: from getting a driver’s license to moving into one’s own home. In certain circles, they directly blame the continuous economic crises since 2008: unemployment is added to a feeling of uncertainty, of not seeing any progress in this sense. And that gives rise not so much to a rejection of a means of transport, but to the resignation to live in the present. In any case, according to the National Confederation of Driving Schools, getting a license is still a pending issue in the minds of the Spanish.

It is still chosen for emergencies or in cases where the advantages are clear, but other options, such as combining public transport or moving around on a scooter or bike, take precedence. The psychologist Josefina Albacete says that, before, having a car was synonymous with freedom. Now it is perceived as a complication: you have to look for parking, share expenses… Meanwhile, there are dozens of options just one click away: request a taxi service and split the price, rent a bicycle or scooter by the minute, wait for a bus or, for longer journeys, look at car-sharing apps.

“The scale of values of young people has changed. It can be said categorically that there are many priorities that come before owning a car”

Carsharing, according to the auditor Grant Thornton, already has 15 million users in the world, 400,000 in Spain (Madrid is the second city in Europe with the most shared cars on the road). In addition, Spain positioned itself as the world leader in motosharing in 2018; the number of vehicles available through these services increased by almost 500% in the country, from 1,491 motorcycles in 2017 to 8,920 motorcycles the following year.

In the United States, according to a survey on the habits of young people published by the BBC, 12% of people between the ages of 21 and 30 have stopped driving compared to the same sample of the previous generation. For them, not even the image of that straight line of asphalt heading towards eternity among wild nature pushes them to take the wheel and feel free, immortal.

The idea of sliding into a parking space with a convertible and the roar of the engine every morning have gradually been forgotten, with users thinking more about clothing or the latest technology. “It’s much more exciting for teenagers to have a new iPhone than the latest fashion: you can do much more interesting things,” a 19-year-old girl told The New York Times. “The important thing is to be connected,” she added.

“The change in preferences in transportation by young people leads to doubts about the position taken for granted by governments, i.e. that driving will grow rapidly and progressively. This is something that should be taken into account when making infrastructure and budget decisions”, underlined the 2012 Frontier Group and US PIRG study titled Transportation and the New Generations. This report looked at how what after World War II was a symbol of maturity has now become an expensive accessory. Despite the increase in income per family unit or possibilities when traveling, the use of public transport increased by 40% in the US and the purchase of bicycles by 23%. Cars don’t even boast the status they used to grant drivers in the middle of the last century.

Couldn’t it also have to do with the change in social mentality? It is possible: experts agree that concern for the environment, car-sharing platforms and the spirit of the ephemeral are elements to be taken into account. “Everything is much more volatile,” explains Josefina Albacete. “Before, what people most wanted as soon as they turned 18 was to have a car and be free. Now it is the opposite. Freedom does not depend on an object, except for your cellphone and your cosmetics. But just as we are becoming more similar to other European countries in terms of renting a home instead of buying it, or in the use of bikes (even though we are far from Holland or Germany in this sense), we are beginning to follow the same trends regarding geographical mobility and instability.”