For decades, a driver’s license has been more than an ID for teenagers — it is a symbol of freedom and adulthood. Yet, the current generation of high school students is increasingly choosing to opt out. According to the most recent data from the United States Department of Transportation, just one-third of teens 19 and under had a driver’s license in 2023, compared to 64 percent of their counterparts in 1995.

Unlike most of the U.S., where 80 percent of drivers say they have no choice but to drive, Brookline is connected to public transportation. Two light rail lines and four bus routes serve the town, and most neighborhoods are walkable and bikeable.

Junior Trevor Bozzuto said he thinks the trend away from driving can be attributed to Gen Z aspirations around lifestyle and to the practical obstacles to driving.

“I think this is because of a trend of Gen Z preferring city life over the suburbs as well as not having the financial means to own a car. This financial burden of car ownership has made Gen Z look to other modes of transportation,” Bozzuto said.

Peter Sutton, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), said he thinks the changing mobility habits of Gen Z provide a chance for the state to promote car-free means of transportation.

“I definitely think it presents an opportunity to increase walking, biking and transit. I think it just comes down to sheer economics. It’s getting more and more expensive to own a car,” Sutton said. “I think that’s a great role that MassDOT can play, providing more options for people other than having to drive everywhere.”

Miles Taylor is a Transportation Planner at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and the creator of the YouTube channel Miles in Transit, which has gained 79,000 subscribers and nearly 13 million views on videos on public transport systems around the country. Taylor said that, in his experience, attending openings of new transit lines, the crowds skew younger.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for [public] transit in this generation, perhaps more than others that would have just used it as a utilitarian thing,” Taylor said.

In a statement to The Cypress, the MBTA acknowledged that there are barriers to young people in the Boston area adopting public transportation and said it is working to address them.

“Young people face physical challenges to accessing transit, such as a lack of safe walking and biking infrastructure that connects to stations,” the MBTA wrote. “We are working with our partners in towns and cities across the Commonwealth to deliver improvements to this access, and we welcome feedback from all of our riders about barriers that they experience that impact access to the transit system.”

Taylor said the MBTA is prepared to meet the moment of a generation with changing transportation needs.

“I think we’re in a good situation right now because, in general, we are working on adding bus service. We’re doing a bus network redesign that is adding a 25 percent service increase by its completion,” Taylor said. “I think if schools work with the MBTA and communicate with the MBTA about what their needs are, the MBTA as an agency can certainly try its best to accommodate because, ultimately, our goal is to move people.”

Bozzuto agreed that with new leaders, the MBTA is in a better position than in the past to face increased demand from young people.

“I think this shift presents a huge opportunity for the city of Boston and cities around the country,” Bozzuto said. “With the T coming out of its financial troubles and being under competent leadership, now is a perfect time to bring talks of expansion onto the table.”

The MBTA emphasized its continuing commitment to serving young people through better routing and service.

“We know that frequent and reliable service are the most important factors for allowing riders to choose transit to get to school, work or other destinations,” the MBTA wrote. “We are always thinking about the best places and destinations to serve and how we can write schedules that accommodate not just 9-5 commute trips, but all of the different ways that teens may need to travel, too.”