"As we've discussed, gasoline prices are just part of the story. The lack of growth in miles driven over the last 5+ years is probably also due to the lingering effects of the great recession (high unemployment rate and lack of wage growth), the aging of the overall population (over 55 drivers drive fewer miles) and changing driving habits of young drivers."
The Great Recession will hopefully stop eventually, and then you can expect to see the unemployed 18-35 year-olds get jobs, buy cars (among other things), and drive again.
It won't end, and we don't see people driving in a big way again.
Data has shown that between 55+ retiring and younger potential drivers preferring not to drive, vehicle sales have plateaued. If self-driving cars take off in the next ~5 years, that'll be the death of a large part of the auto industry.
I'm optimistic. Economies go up and down, sometimes in long cycles, but I think this is bound to turn for the better eventually. I'm doing fine financially and have a good job even in this economy, software development still seeming to be a growing field, but I have some friends with other degrees (or no degrees) in a lot worse shape than me. So I hope for them my optimism isn't wrong.
You are missing the point: it's not about recession (which is behind us by now), but about change in habbits/needs. People rely more on digital communications and less on driving.
"As we've discussed, gasoline prices are just part of the story. The lack of growth in miles driven over the last 5+ years is probably also due to the lingering effects of the great recession (high unemployment rate and lack of wage growth), the aging of the overall population (over 55 drivers drive fewer miles) and changing driving habits of young drivers."
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/nhts.cfm
Why Young People Are Driving Less and What It Means for Transportation Policy http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/transportation-and-new-gen...