- 56 percent of Michigan teenagers had driver’s licenses in 2021, down from 66 percent in 2000
- Reasons for the decline include being too busy to learn and high car ownership costs
- Cuts in driver’s ed funding may be disproportionately impacting Black and low-income teens
Car dependent living is incredibly subsidized. It’s also (slowly) becoming more obvious as the cause of our pollution and traffic problems. For those reasons, and my own determination, I am optimistic that we will see the magical towns you describe in our lifetime.