The private vehicle was an emancipatory element for previous generations and, although the number of young people who obtain a driving license is decreasing in Spain, having a car continues to become something aspirational for an important part of youth. At least this is recognized by 56% of young people between 16 and 25 years old, the considered generation Z, who continues to maintain a somewhat sentimental relationship with four wheels: in 54% of cases they define it as "a bubble of comfort.”
This is clear from a report on youth and mobility prepared by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and Kantar. The RACC, as a member of the FIA, has actively participated in the study, which has surveyed 9,000 people in nine different countries. In addition to Spain, it has been asked in the United States, Germany, China, India, Mexico, Argentina, Australia and Kenya. Each country presents its particularities: Americans are the ones that pay the greatest respect to vehicles and private property, while Spaniards are one of the nationalities that lowers the average percentages. Between them, six out of ten surveyed have a driving license.
Beyond the car, although 56% consider owning a vehicle as something important, almost the same percentage recognizes that today getting one is a luxury and 44% are in favor of using other, more sustainable alternatives to a car. .
Public transport, which previous generations viewed with a certain disdain, has come to be claimed as something extremely important by one in four young people and very important by 57% of them, a greater number than those who show their desire to have a car. This percentage is in favor of “developing access to various modes of public transport to reduce dependence on cars or motorcycles”, the answer with the most support in the entire survey prepared by the FIA.
In addition to public transport, younger people are also betting on new formats, such as shared mobility. 48% of them are in favor of the development of this type of mobility, whether with bicycles, electric scooters, motorcycles or cars. This is a paradigm shift that is in line with the new times, in which there is more utility in accessing a vehicle punctually only when it is needed.
When asked about mobility in general, without specifying the type of vehicle, the questions they respond with priority are safety (38%) and sustainability (28%). What does not differ from the rest of the age groups is the reasons for mobility, whether by car or another mode of transport: going to work, to the study center or to services such as the doctor or shopping are the answers given by 85% of the young people surveyed, who are at the same time in 45% of the cases actively involved in the development and changes of the different types of transport they use.
