U.S. residents drove 96.88 percent as many miles in December of 2023 as in the same month in 2019, according to estimates released yesterday by the Federal Highway Administration. Though this is down from 104.3 percent in November, driving has been hovering around 100 percent of 2019 levels all year.
In fact, the estimates indicate, Americans drove 100.1 percent as many miles in 2023 as they did in 2019 and 102.0 percent as many miles in 2023 as in 2022. I would judge that driving has completely recovered from the pandemic and is now growing at pre-pandemic levels. Decreases in rush-hour driving due to remote work are made up for by increases in non-rush-hour driving by remote workers running errands, going out for coffee, or attending meetings as well as by people moving from urban to rural areas or from some states to others.
As in previous months, rural driving is well ahead of 2019 levels while urban driving remains short. In fact, 7.1 percent more miles were driven in rural areas in December 2023 than in 2019, while 6.6 percent fewer miles were driving in urban areas. This partially reflects the movement of urbanites to exurban areas.
Similarly, the states that have seen the biggest increases in driving were often ones that saw the biggest population growth. Between 2019 and 2023, Idaho’s population grew by 9.9 percent and miles of driving grew by 11.3 percent.
In the other direction, California’s population shrank by 1.4 percent and miles of driving also declined, although the reported 20.1 percent drop looks like an error of some kind. This points out one of the shortcomings in these estimates: they are based on data collected from traffic counters set up at various places around the states. Virginia has 701 such counters reporting to the Federal Highway Administration; Florida has 260; and Arizona has 230.
California, however, has only 68 counters so the numbers are probably less reliable for that state. Utah is even worse with zero counters reporting so the numbers for that state are just guesstimates “from the estimated VMT based on data from surrounding States or the nationwide average VMT.”
There are two other sources of data that can be used to check these numbers: odometer data reported with vehicle registrations and the National Household Travel Survey, which is repeated every five years. I’d like to think that the Federal Highway Administration actively compares these numbers but I can’t promise that it does.
How any mayor, city councilor, governor, legislator, president, senator, or congressman can look at a graph like that, and justify spending MORE public money on transit, just boggles my mind!
The main issue is that the layout of the areas-built post 1930s isn’t not attractive to pedestrians largely due to codes and regulations such as parking minimums, divisive arterial routes, and prioritizing large scale single use developments.
Newer areas tend to be car-dependent regardless of the housing that is built or even for an example, office employees wanting to get lunch.
Areas built Pre 1930 are also dependent on autos, to bring their customers.
I live in an area mostly built around 1920 and shoppers drive to the area, then they walk.
The workers and shoppers all drive and park in our neighborhood daily.
Once a year they close the main street for a pedestrian fair and the bike racks are mostly empty while parking extends out many blocks for the event.
Autos = freedom
Where is the area you are talking about? Some areas went through decay.
Having codes that encourage car-dependency such as parking minimums and arterial routes is NOT freedom! In addition to the high upkeep costs. You are defending that?
In addition to the high upkeep costs. You are telling me that no one in the office would go down to the first floor or across the street for the few restaurants there?
Modern suburbs no longer uses blocks, thus uses cul de sacs with huge distances between blocks. This extends the “Distance” even people walking need long route. The HALLMARK of modern car dependent suburbia is modern zoning laws; is residential areas are completely separated from commercial uses thus every trip is longer regardless walk or not, and most dont. Even the boundaries between the two, separated by Stroads, Uncomfortable or DANGEROUS places to be Outside of a car. Even schools are not permitted either. So the major building is consolidated to a arterial road, Roads too dangerous for children to walk along. REQUIRE be driven to school.
Strict zoning requirements, means most suburban houses are built the same. At similar price point,
After all, we cant have people of margially different socioeconomic status living too close..
Older suburbs houses are closer up to the street. In modern suburbia, setbacks require houses be 10-20 meters because…some 1950’s urban designer decided having a Huge front yard, is “Ideal” way to live so blearggh.
Incidentally the pressure on developers to build as Many houses as possible on the fucked up spiralling plan, combined with strict setback requirements is why you’ll often see new suburban houses with backyards Way smaller than front yard, Both of which are now useless.borhood concept, that relegates neighborhoods to move via only one road. A dead end, begins on a feed road which feeds the highway. With only one way out, you have only one way to go anywhere.
Well this is the garbage disgusting system O’Toole supports.
Cyrus992, since he got fired by CATO, the Antiplanner makes his money from car dealership associations, so that’s the kind of system he gets paid to support.
Well, his main job is to preserve the status quo.
Not mainly free markets in planning or just simply low-rise developments.
“After all, we cant have people of margially different socioeconomic status living too close..”
The antiplanner believes if you buy a house in a neighborhood without poor people, you deserve to have that guaranteed until the sun burns out.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/driven-to-death-dallas-traffic-death-rate-worst-among-10-largest-u-s-cities/3373511/?amp
Sounds bad, but if you look at the deaths per trillion miles driven, you hardly notice them!
Sounds bad, but if you look at the 102,442 Californians that moved to Texas in 2021-2022 you’ll hardly notice them!