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Title:

Activity Patterns, Time Use, and Travel of the Millennial Generation: What is All the Hype About?

Accession Number:

01594284

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

The millennial generation, defined as those born between the late 1970s and the early 2000s, is the largest population segment in the United States. This generation has been found to show activity-travel behavioral patterns and choices different from those of previous generations; they travel less, own fewer cars, have lower drivers’ licensure rates, and use alternative modes of transportation more than their counterparts in prior generation. The important question that has not been adequately addressed is: to what extent are these differences in activity-travel patterns likely to persist as the millennials age and experience various phases and stages of the lifecycle? To address this question, a longitudinal analysis of repeated cross-sections of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data is presented in this paper. The trend analysis shows that older millennials (born 1979-1985) are indeed aging to be increasingly similar to their prior generation counterparts in terms of their activity-time use patterns, although some differences – particularly in minutes driving cars – persist, while the evidence is yet to be uncovered for the younger millennials born 1988-1994. The findings suggest that differences in time use between millennials and the prior generation are likely to fade with age. Millennials may exhibit a lag in the adoption of activity-travel and time use patterns of predecessor generations due to delayed lifecycle phases; in the meantime, substantial sustainability benefits may accrue from the lag in adoption of more classic auto-oriented behaviors by millennials. Measures to try and sustain such benefits should be implemented.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB10 Standing Committee on Traveler Behavior and Values.

Monograph Accession #:

01584066

Report/Paper Numbers:

16-6024

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Garikapati, Venu M
Pendyala, Ram M
Morris, Eric A
Mokhtarian, Patricia L
McDonald, Noreen C

Pagination:

19p

Publication Date:

2016

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; References; Tables

Identifier Terms:

American Time Use Survey

Uncontrolled Terms:

Millennials

Subject Areas:

Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Society

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-6024

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Jan 12 2016 6:40PM