The characteristics of our transportation infrastructure and development in many areas across the country create conditions where driving is the only viable option for anyone able to do so—yet this leaves a substantial portion of our population vulnerable. Approximately 28 million Americans (about 9 percent of the population) do not have access to a car, and lower-income people and people of color are more likely to be carless.

Households with an annual income of less than $25,000 are almost nine times as likely not to have a car than households with incomes greater than $25,000. In fact, some 20 percent of households in poverty don’t have a car. Just 6.5 percent of white households did not have access to a car in 2015 according to the National Equity Atlas, compared to 19.7 percent of Black households, 13.6 percent of Native American households, and 12 percent of Latinx households.

People without access to a car do not just live in urban areas; more than one million households— or 6.2 percent of all households—in primarily rural counties do not have a vehicle.¹ In fact, the majority of counties in the U.S. with high rates of zero-car households are rural. Carless residents in rural areas also face other unique challenges— for example, while many rural communities have created transit programs that play a critical role in helping people reach healthcare and other needs, fewer communities have the type of scheduled, fixed-route transit that residents can use to get to work every day, making it especially hard for people without access to a car to access employment. The design of our communities can also negatively impact other residents who cannot drive, including older adults and some people with disabilities.

In many communities, traveling outside a car can be a matter of life and death. Our policies and practices have created a system that prioritizes high-speed car trips over all other modes, and people of color and low-income communities pay the price.

Pedestrian fatalities began steadily rising in 2009, and the trend has not slowed down. 7,341 people—more than 20 per day—were struck and killed while walking in 2021, a massive 12.4 percent increase over 2020. Comparing 2021 to 2019, when travel behavior was more similar to 2021 than the shutdown-laden year of 2020, that increase goes up to an astonishing 17 percent. This record high also marks an astonishing 79 percent increase since 2009.

While most communities across the U.S. are primarily car- oriented, demand has clearly pivoted. Six out of 10 people said they drive because of a lack of other options in a 2017 survey, 62 percent of Americans reported that nearby transit would be important in choosing where to live and 54 percent cited nearby bike lanes and paths. Companies of all sizes are also relocating to or deciding to start up in walkable downtowns and communities with transit to ensure access to a high-quality workforce, as younger talent flocks to transit-connected, walkable communities.

In spite of this demand, zoning laws and transportation agency policies often do not allow for this type of dense, walkable environment. As a result, the market has not been able to respond to the demand for walkable communities, making them more expensive. Americans today are forced to pay a premium for housing in walkable communities and accessible transit.

Due to the growing deficit of affordable housing in cities and walkable communities, low-income families and individuals have been pushed to the suburbs, further away from jobs and services and with fewer options for traveling without a vehicle. A study by the Brookings Institution found that residents in low-income suburban neighborhoods with access to transit can reach just four percent of metro area jobs with a 45-minute commute. In other words, many people without access to a car are also unable to get to work without a car, creating a cycle of poverty.

To reduce delays and increase speeds, decision- makers are willing to spend billions of dollars on new roadway lane-miles in an effort to solve congestion. This effort has failed repeatedly, and communities of color are paying the price. In the 100 largest urbanized areas in the U.S. the number of freeway lane miles grew by 30,511 between 1993 and 2017, an increase of 42 percent.

That rate of expansion significantly outstripped the 32 percent growth in population in those regions over the same time period, yet annual hours of delay (a standard measure of congestion) grew by a staggering 144 percent. In fact, congestion increased in every single area, including those with stagnant or declining populations.