Philadelphia fourth in carless households

Philadelphia ranks fourth among U.S. cities in households without a vehicle, and vehicle ownership in the nation is trending downward, according to a report from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. In 2012, 32.6 percent of Philadelphia households did not have a vehicle, up slightly from 32.4 percent in 2007, the report said. Only New York City, Washington, and Boston had higher percentages of households without a vehicle. Nationwide, the percentage of households without a vehicle was 9.22 percent in 2012, down slightly from 9.29 percent in 2011 and up from 8.72 percent in 2007. The report did not include data from 2013, the best year for car sales in six years. Vehicle sales last year reached 15.6 million, up 7.6 percent from 2012.

- Paul Nussbaum