San Diegans are driving less, unlike rest of U.S.
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San Diegans are driving less than they did before COVID, while the rest of the country is driving more.
Why it matters: City leaders have made reducing driving a priority to cut the region's carbon footprint and comply with state emissions mandates.
Driving the news: San Diego was among the metro areas with the biggest decline in daily miles driven from the spring of 2019 to the same time in 2024.
- Per capita vehicle miles traveled increased 12.3% across the U.S.' 100 largest metro areas during the same period, according to transportation analytics firm StreetLight Data.
Zoom out: California appears to be going in the other direction.
- The five largest decreases in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) were all in California metro areas.
- Los Angeles led the way with a 16.6% decrease, and per capita VMT in San Francisco and San Jose both fell by over 10%.
Between the lines: San Diego has hoped to spur this sort of change through city planning efforts that incentivized dense, urban development over the sprawling projects the region is known for.
- That's been driven by a state mandate from a 2006 law that the region reduce its emissions by 19% of 2005 levels by 2035.
- County voters in November will weigh in on a measure to increase taxes to expand public transit.
Yes, but: The ousted former leader of the San Diego Association of Governments, the primary agency responsible for following the state law, tried and failed to enact a charge for driving to expedite the shift.
- Mayor Todd Gloria touted his role in killing that fee in a mayoral debate this week.
The bottom line: Higher VMT means higher emissions, but it can also reflect improvement in economic conditions. Despite San Diego's driving decline, economic activity is still above 2019 levels.
- "This is a signal that VMT growth can be decoupled from GDP growth," StreetLight's report reads.
