The ability to drive an automobile is an important part of living in the United States. This is true everywhere other than a few large cities in which mass transit offers a practical option for getting around. Yet the training of young people to drive, which was once done by public schools, has been privatized. Slowly, school district by school district, this service has been outsourced to private firms and students in these districts must now pay a significant fee to be trained to drive.

In 1997 there were 56 establishments primarily engaged in offering automobile driving instruction in the United States. By 2007 that number had risen to 2,261 establishents. Businesses engaged in training truck drivers are not included in this number.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1997 and 2007
Market size: $30.4 million and $638.1 million respectively
Source: “2007 Economic Census: Sector 61: Educational Services: Industrial Series: Preliminary Comparative Statistics for the United States 2007 and 2002,” July 31, 2009, available online here as well as the “1997 Economic Census” data on the same industry.
Original source: U.S. Bureau of the Census