Regardless of how Americans have rearranged their work commutes in recent years, they’re still driving — more than ever.
A recent report by the transportation data firm StreetLight Data found that in the vast majority of the nation’s largest metros, vehicle use and traffic congestion has surpassed 2019 levels, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new information, in a report titled The State of VMT & Congestion: How Rising Trends Impact U.S. Metros, is a somber reminder that goals to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are not having the desired effects, and cities are not progressing in a meaningful way to combat climate-warming pollution.
Vehicle miles traveled is up nationwide, climbing 12 percent since 2019. New York City has shown the largest increase in both congestion and VMT in the last five years, a finding made all the more glaring by a recent decision to pause a congestion pricing plan for Manhattan.
“We know these roadways are some of the most heavily used in the country and so moving the needle here may require significant policy changes and infrastructure investment,” said Emily Adler, director of content at StreetLight.
Meanwhile, San Francisco stands in the enviable spot of having reduced VMT per capita 13 percent in the last five years, making it the “best-performing metro for congestion reduction,” according to the StreetLight Data report. This standing could be a function of the many knowledge-based jobs in the Bay Area, where employers have shifted to remote-work or hybrid-work environments. But the shift could be a function of broader policy efforts by the state and region.
“In the case of San Francisco, it may be part of broader success in California reigning in VMT while also being a function of a larger work-from-home culture,” said Adler.
How development might impact vehicle miles traveled is a key metric California looks to when evaluating development proposals, said Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
Viewing projects through this metric allows officials to ask, “does this development really contribute to a more walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented environment?” said Rubio-Cornejo, speaking on a panel at the CoMotion Miami conference. “And so any conditions we place on developments are really geared toward improving that type of environment. I think that is going to be a big game changer. It’s a mandate from the state level.”
The state’s mission to reduce climate-warming pollution can be seen in other metrics. Gasoline consumption in California has declined 2 billion gallons a year, from its peak in 2005, despite an increase of 6 million cars, trucks and SUVs, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. The reduced gas consumption is a result of state policies, combined with improved fuel economy and the transition to electric vehicles. EVs now make up 1 in 4 new car sales, according to data from Veloz, a Sacramento-based EV policy and advocacy organization.
Chris Bruntlett, international relations manager for the Dutch Cycling Embassy, points out that half of all car trips in the United States are less than 3 miles, as he advocates for improved infrastructure and policies to get people out of their cars and onto a bike. Perhaps 15 percent of these trips are “catchable if we just reallocate our space and think about our mobility systems a little bit differently,” said Bruntlett, speaking at the CoMotion Miami conference in May.
“It comes down to creating that seamlessness between different modes of transportation, from the payment to the parking of bicycles,” he added.
These are the kinds of questions and issues that StreetLight Data hopes to aid in exploring, said Adler.
“The purpose of this data is to really set a benchmark to understand where we are, and how existing policy and infrastructure is impacting VMT,” said Adler. “Only with recent, comparable data can we understand current trends and make effective investments to reign in VMT.”
Skip Descant writes about smart cities, the Internet of Things, transportation and other areas. He spent more than 12 years reporting for daily newspapers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and California. He lives in downtown Yreka, Calif.
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