This seems disingenuous. Privacy concerns are valid, but you can get a new car (Ford Maverick) for $25k. The hybrid powertrain would only be $1k more, for an ~40% reduction in fuel consumption

Honestly geography seems to be the most important factor, rather than generation.

Or, just affordability?

Things just cost a lot more nowadays, and if you're young it's unlikely you're earning much. Hell, it's also possible that their parents missed the boat on salaries rivalling house prices.

No, you are not alone. It makes it harder to read.

Not if you look at it by age number smallest to largest

Good question. It's possible all this poll is showing is that old people aren't physically as able to use other methods.

Ideally busses would be cheaper/subsidized, but driving for recreation is valid. Carpool if you can.

This is 100% my question. I am assuming to polling was specifically done in an urban environment where there is some public transportation. It makes sense that you'd still have a lot of folks that would still want a car. If this was a more rural poll or would have to be like 99% car.

The “I live in a transit friendly city.” Is uh, pretty rare in America.

It’s also time investment issue for people who work. I drive to work in the morning, it saves me 1.5hrs compared to taking the bus under normal operations (it would only actually be like an hour and 10m extra most days because I work at a school and they have a direct bus for that but I’m ignoring that since most don’t have that luxury.)

That’s just on the way to work. It’d also make me 15m late every day. That’s also assuming it stays exactly on schedule.

If that’s the same on the way home that’s 3 extra hours a day wasted.

Cars are fun to me, especially older cars that have character and aren't so big and soundproof. I live out in the mountains and it really is a good time to go for a Sunday drive along twisty roads, no real destination in mind. For instance, in the fall, after a rain, with windows down, the vivid colors and smells help me slow down, clear my mind and remind me I'm part of the world, not just a passive observer.

And yes, I realize what sub this is in.

Exactly. I don't know how the statistics had been done, but at least where I live, I really need to drive given how bad the public transport is. And I live in a city!

It's worse than that. The age range literally includes 12 year olds.

It costs me 4$ a week in fuel to drive to work. A monthly transit pass is more than 100$. Even with an honored citizen pass which is just under 30$, it’s still cheaper for me to drive to work.

You are committing a mortal sin of personal finance - equating vehicle cost with gas cost. It is this precise mistake that results in countless American families literally driving themselves into poverty. The cost of gas is only a small fraction of the per-mile cost to operate a vehicle. This is one of the single biggest mistakes people mistake when assessing their personal finances, deciding on how far to live from work, deciding whether to drive or fly for a trip, etc.

All of the costs of vehicle ownership scale with mileage. Cars depreciate faster the more you drive them. The more you drive, the greater the chance of an accident and a resultingly higher insurance premium. Every mile you drive means more maintenance and burns through ever-more of your car's finite lifespan. Gas is the only one of these you feel so directly, but ALL of the costs of operating a vehicle scale with mileage.

It is difficult to calculate the true total cost of vehicle ownership, but a good approximation is the IRS mileage rate, which is 67 cents per mile. This is the IRS's best figuring of the average cost to operate a vehicle, averaged across the US vehicle fleet. Obviously it will be higher or lower depending on the precise vehicle you drive, how reckless a driver you are, etc.

But let's be generous and assume an average mpg efficiency of 35 mpg. If gas costs $3.50/gallon, then gas costs you about 10 cents per mile. Averaged across the US vehicle fleet, gas costs less 20% of the actual cost of operating a vehicle. A car is a big expensive asset that you burn through just like you burn through gas. Every mile you drive a vehicle gets it one mile closer to the junkyard.

This is what creates the illusion of driving being cheaper than it actually is. I mean, just think about it from first principles. A bigger vehicle like a train or bus is obviously going to be a hell of a lot cheaper to move a person the same distance. It's simple economies of scale. When you buy a transit pass, you are paying for your share of the full cost of operating a bus or train, not just the fuel cost.

If you want to calculate the true cost of operating a vehicle, a rough method is to take what you spend on gas and multiply by 5. That's a lot closer to your true cost per mile of owning and operating a vehicle.