Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use
Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, 2018
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2019
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122203 |
| _version_ | 1811069596242804736 |
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| author | Murphy, Elizabeth Anne,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
| author2 | Christopher Knittel. |
| author_facet | Christopher Knittel. Murphy, Elizabeth Anne,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
| author_sort | Murphy, Elizabeth Anne,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, 2018 |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:12:52Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/122203 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:12:52Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1222032022-02-01T20:46:56Z Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use Generational trends in vehicle ownership & use Murphy, Elizabeth Anne,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Christopher Knittel. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. Technology and Policy Program. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Technology and Policy Program Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. Technology and Policy Program. Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, 2018 Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-124). Anecdotes that Millennials are fundamentally different from prior generations are prevalent in the American media. One claim often repeated is that Millennials, happy to rely on public transit or ride-hailing, will not purchase personal vehicles. This claim has the potential to both upset the economy and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from transportation. This work explores Millennials' preferences for personal vehicles from a quantitative approach utilizing data from the US National Household Travel Survey, Census, and American Community Survey to determine whether observed decreases in vehicle ownership and use by Millennials are due to shifts in preferences, or if demographic changes have altered Millennials' consumer behaviors. I employ econometric techniques to explicitly compare Millennials' vehicle ownership and use to prior generations without the confounding effect of demographic variables using linear regressions, Oaxaca decomposition, and nearest neighbor matching estimators. Additionally, the underlying demographic differences between generations are explored with econometric approaches. The findings from these analyses indicate no significant difference in preferences for vehicle ownership between Millennials and prior generations when confounding variables are controlled, and a preference for higher use in terms of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by Millennials. The difference in observed vehicle ownership and use arises from both age effects and different underlying demographics. Millennials may be saving the planet with their changing demographics, not because they are fundamentally rejecting personal vehicle ownership and use. by Elizabeth Anne Murphy. S.M. in Technology and Policy S.M.inTechnologyandPolicy Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society 2019-09-17T16:29:25Z 2019-09-17T16:29:25Z 2018 2018 Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122203 1111802006 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 124 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. Technology and Policy Program. Murphy, Elizabeth Anne,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use |
| title | Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use |
| title_full | Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use |
| title_fullStr | Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use |
| title_full_unstemmed | Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use |
| title_short | Will millennials save the planet? : generational trends in vehicle ownership & use |
| title_sort | will millennials save the planet generational trends in vehicle ownership use |
| topic | Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. Technology and Policy Program. |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122203 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT murphyelizabethannesmmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology willmillennialssavetheplanetgenerationaltrendsinvehicleownershipuse AT murphyelizabethannesmmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology generationaltrendsinvehicleownershipuse |