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In recent years, the millennial generation (those born roughly between 1980 and 2000) has gained significant attention in transport research. Initial research characterized this generation as multimodal, urban and tech-savvy; they have at times been painted as our great hope for a sustainable transport future. Yet more recently a parallel narrative has emerged. According to this view, millennials are simply reacting to difficult economic circumstances that have restricted their ability to pay for a car. This paper explores the evidence for these two conflicting narratives of the millennial generation and possible reasons why the two narratives have come about. It discusses the implications of the two millennial narratives on both social and technological equity and sets out initial thoughts on how these issues may be addressed in future research and policy.

ObjectivesMany gender differences in travel have begun to converge. Has convergence occurred for household‐serving travel, which constitutes a very large and growing share of all trips? Moreover, what explains the division of household‐serving travel in heterosexual couples? In answering these questions, we test the salience of three theories about the gendered division of household labor: (1) time availability, (2) microeconomic, and (3) gender socialization.MethodsUsing data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) from 2003 to 2012, we calculated the female‐to‐male ratio of household‐serving trips in several types of households (i.e., singles vs. couples and male vs. female breadwinner households).ResultsThere was some empirical support for each theory, but we find the most consistent and compelling evidence for gender socialization. We observe substantial gender differences in child‐ and household‐serving trips apart from household formation; even in households where women earn more, are better educated, or work more hours than their partners, women still make about half again as many child‐serving and grocery‐shopping trips as their male partners.ConclusionDespite dramatic changes in women's labor force participation over the past half‐century, the gender division of household‐serving travel remains strong.

A now substantial body of literature finds that land use and urban form have a statistically significant, albeit relatively modest, effect on travel behavior. Some scholars have suggested that various built-environment characteristics influence travel more in concert than when considered in isolation. Yet few previous studies have combined built-environment measures to create holistic descriptions of the overall character of neighborhoods, and fewer still have related these neighborhoods to residents' travel decisions. To address this gap in the literature, we develop a typology of seven distinct neighborhood types by applying factor analysis and then cluster analysis to a set of 20 variables describing built-environment characteristics for most census tracts in the United States. We then include these neighborhood types in a set of multivariate regression models to estimate the effect of neighborhood type on the travel behavior of neighborhood residents, controlling for an array of personal and household characteristics. We find relatively little variation in the number of daily trips among neighborhood types, but there is substantial neighborhood variation in both person miles of travel and mode choice. Travel by residents of one particular neighborhood type is notably distinguished from all others by a very low number of miles traveled, little solo driving, and high transit use. However, this neighborhood type is found almost exclusively in just a few very large metropolitan areas, and its replicability is uncertain.