50 largest US metros listed by vehicle miles traveled per capita

[iheartthed]

As of 2023, per Republica:

1. New York - 14.4
2. Philadelphia - 21.1
3. San Francisco-Oakland - 21.7
4. Chicago - 21.8
5. Boston - 22.8
6. Seattle - 22.9
7. Portland - 23.3
8. Las Vegas - 23.6
9. Miami - 23.7
10. Los Angeles - 24.2
11. Buffalo - 24.2
12. San Jose - 24.3
13. New Orleans - 24.9
14. Pittsburgh - 25.2
15. Salt Lake City - 25.4
16. Providence - 26.3
17. Milwaukee - 26.7
18. Tampa - 27
19. Sacramento - 27.2
20. Hartford - 27.2
21. Orlando - 27.3
22. Cleveland - 27.4
23. Denver - 28
24. Phoenix - 28.1
25. Washington, DC - 28.1
26. San Diego - 28.5
27. Indianapolis - 29.2
28. Minneapolis - 29.3
29. Austin - 29.3
30. Louisville - 29.4
31. Columbus - 30.1
32. Dallas-Fort Worth - 30.1
33. Houston - 30.4
34. Detroit - 30.5
35. Cincinnati - 30.5
36. Baltimore - 30.9
37. San Antonio - 31.5
38. Virginia Beach-Norfolk - 31.7
39. Kansas City - 31.7
40. Riverside-San Bernadino - 32.3
41. Oklahoma City - 32.5
42. St. Louis - 32.7
43. Atlanta - 33.6
44. Memphis - 35.2
45. Richmond - 35.5
46. Charlotte - 35.5
47. Nashville - 35.5
48. Jacksonville - 36
49. Birmingham - 36.1
50. Raleigh - 38.1

source: https://www.replicahq.com/2023-vmt-rankings

New York drives the fewest miles by far, as expected. Phoenix being even with DC was a bit of a surprise. I'm also a little surprised that Dallas and Houston drive slightly fewer miles than Detroit. Raleigh having the most miles driven is also not unexpected.

[Steely Dan]

Given it's level of transit infrastructure, DC's placement is quite the surprise to me.

I expected it in the top 6 with other usual urban suspects.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Given it's level of transit infrastructure, DC's placement is quite the surprise to me.

I expected it in the top 6 with other usual urban suspects.

Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland are pretty auto-oriented parts of the DC metro. Most area residents live in VA or Maryland suburbs, and huge numbers of them work out there as well.

[JManc]

San Francisco and San Jose faired a lot better than I thought they would. LA too.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland are pretty auto-oriented parts of the DC metro. Most area residents live in VA or Maryland suburbs, and huge numbers of them work out there as well.

But I believe DC also has the highest transit share of any metro outside NYC. DC is apparently the big outlier among the transit-oriented six.

It's likely that many DC transit commuters are driving to park-and-rides and then taking transit. The region has insufferable traffic and federal workers are heavily incentivized to use transit.

Philly is kinda funny too. I believe Philly has the worst transit share of the big 6, yet the VMT are second to NYC. Lots of walkers, and short driving commutes, apparently. Philly also doesn't have terrible traffic.

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Crawford

But I believe DC also has the highest transit share of any metro outside NYC. DC is apparently the big outlier among the transit-oriented six.

It's likely that many DC transit commuters are driving to park-and-rides and then taking transit. The region has insufferable traffic and federal workers are heavily incentivized to use transit.

Philly is kinda funny too. I believe Philly has the worst transit share of the big 6, yet the VMT are second to NYC. Lots of walkers, and short driving commutes, apparently. Philly also doesn't have terrible traffic.

A disproportionate number of people in Philly walk to work.

I think our decentralized job centers might also help, counterintuitively. We have multiple job centers in the suburbs and it could be that the people who work in them largely live nearby. And yes, our traffic is not terrible by big city standards.

I know NOVA has a lot of job centers as well. but Philly doesn't have sprawl that looks anything like Loudon County or Will County outside of Chicago. Once you get about 45-50 minutes west of Philly you effectively hit a green belt and that continues until you hit the suburbs of SE PA's tier 2 cities (Lancaster, Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton) which have their own little suburban rings and commuting patterns. Heading east into NJ maybe 35-40 minutes out you hit the Pine Barrens in which development is literally outlawed...so we're just sorta hemmed in.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by JManc

San Francisco and San Jose faired a lot better than I thought they would. LA too.

Yeah, regional job dispersal in the California metros gives workers a shot at living closer to their workplaces. That's why the average commute time in LA is 30.9 minutes.