Insider heard from a reader who is skeptical of  the Sept 3 Geopath mobility report finding that average daily miles travelled for the US was only down 2% for the week and that average daily miles travelled was 92% or pre-covid levels.  The reader suggests this can’t be true and based on anecdotal experience that traffic is way down in certain cities.  Insider’s thoughts:

• The geopath numbers are average daily miles travelled, not daily commute miles.  Insider’s impression is that traffic is less at rush hour because people aren’t commuting.  But commuting travel is only 15-20% of total travel. The trips are being spread out during the day and distributed differently.  Google’s mobility data bears this out.  Workplace trips are down 37% from baseline. Retail trips are down 9% from baseline.  Grocery related trips are at baseline. Residential related trips are 8% above baseline.  Parks trips (national parks, public beaches, plazas) are 80% above baseline.
• The geopath numbers are averages for the entire US.  Some DMA’s (Alpena, Anchorage, Bangor, Beaumont, Billings, Casper, Cheyenne, Fairbanks, Glendive) have seen increase in average daily miles travelled.  Many large markets (Houston, Los Angeles, New York City) are still down 20-30% from pre-covid levels.  You can see precisely how your DMA is doing by looking at the Geopath DMA report which is updated every week.

A couple examples of why it’s important to look at your own DMA.  Cheyenne-Scottsbluff has seen a 38% increase in average daily miles travelled since March 2.

Los Angeles, on the other hand is down 29%

Insider asked Geopath President Kym Frank for her thoughts and she said this: “When looking at national data, whether it is coming from Apple, Google, Inrix, or Geopath, distance traveled is approaching pre-COVID levels. Each individual market, however, has a unique story to tell. Some markets experienced virtually no change in distance traveled as a result of the pandemic. Others experienced significant fluctuations.”

What are your thoughts about covid’s impact on traffic?  Let Insider know using the form below.

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