I have also come to the conclusion that only something like a mandatory trip Taximeter (that can't be turned off) in every car would be the only way to get people to recognise the real cost of their driving. I can't see it happening though!
If we really are going to achieve a step-change decrease in energy use (because just driving electric cars will not do anything like what is needed) then pretty some serious sticks - and the carrot of massive improvements in public transport - are essential.
Which comes back to the point that I was making that few fully understand the true cost of what their car costs them and they could be better if using public transport.
It is however one of the reasons why younger people are less likely to drive; as costs for things like insurance is quite a barrier, as are actually having driving lessons in the first place.
When there's debate about cost of cars and £350 is the general accepted cost of insurance (as most people having the discussion have been driving for a number of years) however they fail to think about the years of paying more than this (with £1,000 being more than likely, with a quick search in an area with low crime rates, for a Teacher who had just passed their test, driving a cheap 5 year old Ford Ka,doing 8,000 miles a year and with no add one like breakdown cover; the cheapest was £1,100).
At £1,100 doing 8,000 miles just the insurance cost of motoring is 14p per mile
Buying a 2012 Ford Ka (7 years old) would cost about £2,500 to £3,000 (there are a few cheaper, but not by a lot and there are some more expensive but that's a reasonable compromise), if you then run that for 7 years that's £360 to £425 a year.
Just on those two items your travel costs are £1,500 so even before you add on fuel the cost of a season ticket which gets you to a comparable ~8,000 mile range (10 to 15 miles each way a day for work) is likely to be closer to £1,000. That's easily £500 a year for other travel costs and you've still not allowed for the fuel for the car, nor any other costs such as VED, breakdown cover servicing, other repairs or MOT costs.
You can then see why that, even with the lure of cheaper insurance costs 5 to 10 years down the line (but with it still being broadly more expensive to drive), that people would be willing to think "you know what, why bother with owning a car?". Especially if they can pass their test and then still have the ability to hire cars or be in a car club (subject to assure restrictions) for those occasions where a car is actually needed (which in reality is fairly rare, and certainly rarer than most would care to admit).
Being able to access a wider range of jobs (so that you can earn more) is often cited as a reason to own a car. Yes, I can see that, however if you get offered a new job you're generally going to have a month in which to buy a car (which is fairly achievable if you're not overly fussy about what you want). However for many (especially if you are already commuting by bus/rail) there's likely to be something else which is suitable within a reasonable journey time.
However for every £100 more in travel costs you've got to earn at least £130 more to ensure that you are getting paid more. Therefore if you take a job which pays you £1,000 a year more but your travel costs are £800 a year more then you are in fact taking a pay cut.
Also given all the talk about more working from home, compressed hours and other flexible working which is becoming more the norm then the big up front costs of car ownership starts to be even less attractive. If you work at home one day a week and compress your working week into 4 days as well, then your travel costs are going to be lower. However with a car mostly the saving is just fuel (which will then be partly offset by having to heat your own home) whilst with a train (depending on how much of a discount season tickets give you) there's scope for the savings to be more noticeable. However even if it's not, chances are that you'll have some use for your season ticket for other journeys that you make.
