Americans drove 94.2 percent as many miles in December, 2022 as they did in the same month before the pandemic, according to data released by the Federal Highway Administration yesterday. Total driving for the year was 97.2 percent of 2019.
Both urban and rural driving fell short of pre-pandemic levels in December. Americans drove about 99 percent as many miles in rural areas but only 92 percent as many miles in urban areas as in 2019.
December driving exceeded 2019 levels in Texas (113%), Hawaii (111%), Louisiana (109%), Utah (108%), Idaho (106%), Oklahoma (105%), Mississippi (104%), South Carolina (104%), Rhode Island (103%), Arizona (101%), and Florida (101%). Driving fell furthest short of December 2019 levels in California (78%), West Virginia (78%), North Dakota (79%), Indiana (83%), New York (83%), Michigan (85%), Minnesota (86%), South Dakota (87%), Maine (87%), and Kansas (89%). In other states, driving was between 90 and 100 percent of 2019 levels.
I suspect that one reason why driving in December was less than in the year as a whole has to do with people who work at home. One trend we have seen before December is that driving increased in some urban areas that have high levels of people working at home. Apparently, people who work at home go on lots of errands during the day. However, I speculate that they make fewer such trips when weather is bad, as in December.
On a related note, why did it take the Federal Highway Administration until March 1st to release these data? Under the Bush administration, highway data were often published before transit data. Under the Obama administration, highway data came later but only by a week or two. Now highway data are coming out three weeks or more later than transit data. This may be a coincidence or it could say something about the biases within each administration.
