Americans drove 1.5 percent more miles in November 2022 than November 2019, according to data released by the Federal Highway Administration yesterday. This is the third month in a row that driving exceeded 100 percent of pre-pandemic levels. For the year to date, Americans drove 99.99 percent as many miles as in 2019, so if December is even just 0.2 percent above 100 percent, the year as a whole will be as well.
States where driving was well ahead of 2019 include South Dakota (20%), Florida, Missouri, and Rhode Island (all 14%), and Hawaii (12%). Hawaii is surprising as much driving there is by tourists, and the tourist industry has been decimated by the pandemic. Apparently, it is recovering. States where driving remains short of 2019 include West Virginia (-22%), California (-13%), Minnesota (-9%), and New Jersey (-8%), as well as the District of Columbia (-14%).
In other transportation news, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics has published airline passengers and passenger-miles for October. The numbers shown in the chart above are people passing through TSA security lines and don’t distinguish between domestic and international travelers.
According to the October numbers, domestic air flights carried 96.7 percent as many passengers and 98.8 percent as many passenger-miles in October 2022 as the same month in 2019. International flights carried 84.5 percent as many passengers and 76.5 percent as many passenger-miles. Note that domestic trips are, on average, longer than they were before while international trips are shorter. The longer domestic trips probably indicates that some people are substituting other modes of travel for short flights while the shorter international trips probably reflects a focus on travel to nearby countries such as Canada and in western Europe.
