Young and mobile

Mobility conferences are currently dominated by headlines such as “Young people are losing interest in cars”, “Demotorization of young people” or “Car has had its day as a status symbol”. But what is really behind this “youth trend”? The “young and mobile” project investigates this and other questions about the importance of mobility in young people’s everyday lives. To this end, 36 guided interviews were conducted with young people from Berlin and rural regions of Brandenburg. The results showed that mobility is an integral part of young people’s lives. For young people, being mobile means freedom, independence and the opportunity to choose their own path in life. In the city, young people’s everyday mobility is characterized by weighing up various mobility alternatives under the condition of very limited financial resources. In rural areas, young people without their own car are either dependent on their parents’ “willingness to drive” or on poorly developed public transport. Under these circumstances, the car is often seen as the only alternative for mobility. However, a general youth trend “away from the car” could not be confirmed in this study. Decision-makers should therefore not rely on the fact that the mobility behavior of the next generation will change by itself. What is needed instead are incentive programs that make car use more attractive than car ownership.