A study of more than 1,000 younger drivers – those aged between 18-34 and dubbed Millennials by researchers – has found that they are  making an active effort to drive less while more than three-quarters say that owning a car is difficult because of cost of fuel and maintenance.

The survey was carried out by KRC Research on behalf of Zipcar, a car-sharing network. More than half of Zipcar members are aged between 18 and 34.

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The study reveals that 55% of the so-called Millennials surveyed have actively made an effort to drive less, up from 45% in last year’s survey.

Environmental concerns, total cost of vehicle ownership and the ability to stay in touch with friends via social media are factors behind the rise.

Perhaps one of the most striking findings in the report is that 68% agree that they sometimes choose to use social media rather than go out to see friends and family. This is up from 54% in 2010.

“In our second year of this survey, we continue to see dramatic shifts in how Millennials think about personal transportation, the environment and social media,” said Scott Griffith, chairman and CEO of Zipcar. “One trend is abundantly clear: Millennials welcome the collaborative consumption movement with open arms, which we believe points to strong adoption of car sharing as a mainstream transportation solution for this influential segment of the population.”

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“Policy makers should also take notice and accept that our youngest generation will not think about transportation the way we have for the last hundred years, nor will future generations,” said Griffith.