SAN FRANCISCO — Nationally, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per capita increased 12% in May 2024 versus May 2019, before the COVID pandemic, according to StreetLight Data Inc.
In the research company's latest report, "The State of VMT and Congestion: Measuring 5 Years of Vehicle Miles Traveled," the company analyzed mobility data from January 2019 through May 2024.
Until the pandemic, VMT across the U.S. was on a largely unbroken trajectory upwards, the company said. While stay-at-home orders during the pandemic resulted in an abrupt and dramatic decline in VMT beginning in 2020, as the pandemic receded and the economy bounced back, data show VMT has generally sped past 2019 levels.
"By utilizing the StreetLight Insight platform and big data analytics, StreetLight has for the first time produced a data-driven report that uncovers how Americans' driving has, and has not, changed over a five-year period that saw massive swings in our driving habits," said Laura Schewel, StreetLight CEO and vice president of transportation software at parent company Jacobs Solutions Inc.
"While some metros, particularly in California, kept their VMT below 2019 levels, the reality is despite pandemic lows and changes in work, much of the country has returned to and passed pre-pandemic levels of VMT and congestion."
Nationally, VMT per capita increased 12% in May 2024, compared to May 2019. Between January through June 2024 VMT increased compared with the same period in 2023 and more than any year since the initial pandemic bounce back.
StreetLight said 88 of the top 100 metro areas in the U.S. saw VMT increase from spring 2019 through spring 2024. Only four metros saw decreases in the double digits.
California has a concentration of metro areas that have kept VMT below 2019 levels. The only other large metro that hasn't seen VMT rise since 2019 is Washington, D.C., the company said.
