Millennials Love Gadgets More Than They Love Cars

Photo courtesy of Zipcar

America’s love affair with the car may be waning as new tools that help people to share rides are on the rise. A new report out today from Boston-based Zipcar finds that Millennials are far less attached to having four wheels than other generations, with 44 percent of the respondents aged 18-34 saying that they’ve consciously tried to reduce how much they drive over the past year.

The survey, which took a random sample of licensed drivers all ages, found some noticeable distinctions in how Millennials feel about their cars compared to other age groups. Eighty percent said that it was much harder to own a car because of the high cost of gas, maintenance, and parking, while only 69 percent of respondents 49 and older felt the same.

One of the most intriguing parts of the findings is when Zipcar asked respondents to select which piece of technology would most negatively impact their lives if it were lost. Millennials generally responded that losing their gadgets would be a fate far worse than losing their ride. Here’s a look at the details of those findings:

• Thirty-five percent of Millennials said that losing their computer would have the greatest negative impact on their lives;
• Thirty percent said losing their mobile phone would have the greatest negative impact;
• Twenty-eight percent said that losing their car would have the greatest negative impact (which I guess is music to the ears of car thieves);
• Seven percent said that losing their TV would have the greatest negative impact.

Meanwhile, losing a car was the the worst possible scenario for every other age group surveyed by a significant margin. Another finding? That Millennials are increasingly using mobile apps to help them hail rides, track public transit, and book car reservations. But there’s no surprise there.

Check out their full findings below.