FIA publishes its first ever report on youth and mobility

19 January 2024

The report summarises 16-25 year olds’ views about car ownership and transport solutions. It follows a survey of 9,000 young people from across the US, Germany, China, India, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Kenya, and Spain.

In the survey, respondents said that:

Safety and sustainability are their top priorities. 38% of respondents wanted local transport to be safer, while 28% said it ought to be more sustainable.

Getting a driving licence is important – 51% hold a car driving licence, 18% hold one for motorised two-wheelers and 33% of those who don’t have a licence say they intend to get one in the next five years.

Owning a car is an important stage of life – 56% totally agreed with this. Other respondents thought that cars were a kind of bubble or extension of their home (54%) or that owning a car was a necessity (40%).

Public transport should be improved – 57% of young people said that this was very or extremely important in helping them move around locally. However, 51% said that they’d like to see improved access to car ownership, while 48% said that better access to shared means of transport (like shared bikes or cars) would serve this purpose.

They need access to transport solutions for work and education - 64% said they were essential in getting them to jobs, while 62% said they needed them to get to education, and 59% said they used cars to access services (like the doctors or shopping).

They want to be part of the change – 45% are or want to be actively involved in shaping the future of transport solutions where they live and 54% are or want to be actively involved in the development of safe and sustainable mobility options. 

The report can be downloaded here.