39 / Single occupancy vehicles, heavier cars, & transportation inefficiency.

Musing from recent neighborhood walks. Notably: counting single occupancy vehicles (SOVs) entering and exiting the city during rush hour. Surely, some of these are coming from — and going to — similar areas of the metro. There has to be a better way. And, they're all driving increasingly-large SUVs, too.

Bigger, heavier cars. More inefficient, wasted space.

There is much we can glean from a basic neighborhood wander. This is one such observation; what is one of yours?

We discuss:

00:00 Observations from neighborhood walks, amongst rush hour commuters.

04:27 The inefficiency of single occupancy vehicles.

11:28 The exploding popularity of larger vehicles in the U.S. (SUVs, trucks, etc.).

16:44 More on inefficiencies in American cities.

21:30 What have you noticed in your neighborhood?

For context:

U.S. commuter data (via CSIS).

Market share by vehicle type, 1975-2021 (via Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan).

Cost of empty airline seats (via Forbes).

Most popular vehicle type in each state (via iSeeCars).