by Michael Sivak, Sivak
Applied Research
During the pandemic, some workers
were (and some still are) able to work from home. Therefore, it is not
surprising that in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the annual miles
driven per car or light truck (SUV, pickup truck, or van) decreased
substantially. Of more interest is the new finding that this reduction was
entirely due to a reduced use of cars as opposed to light trucks. This leads me
to assume that telecommuters are more likely to drive a car, while those who do
not have the luxury of telecommuting, including many essential workers, are
more likely to drive a light truck.
The
raw data for this analysis, which come from FHWA, are shown in the first two rows
of the table below. They represent the average annual mileage per vehicle.
Cars and light trucks
Cars
Light trucks
2019
11,520 miles
11,599 miles
11,263 miles
2020
10,148 miles
9,780 miles
11,355 miles
Change
-12%
-16%
+1%
Overall, from 2019 to 2020, miles driven per light-duty vehicle decreased by 12%. However, the nugget is that while cars were driven less (down 16%), the annual mileage of light trucks stayed about the same (up 1%).
This analysis suggests that telecommuters are more likely to drive a car than a light truck, and that the opposite is the case for non-telecommuters. However, to the extent that some telecommuters do drive a light truck, they push the 2020 mileage of light trucks down. Conversely, to the extent that some non-telecommuters do drive a car, they pull the 2020 mileage of cars up.
Note:
FHWA categorizes light-duty vehicles by their wheelbase (with 121 inches being
the cut-off), but the two categories approximately correspond to cars and light
trucks.
Michael Sivak is the managing director of Sivak Applied Research and the former director of Sustainable Worldwide Transportation at the University of Michigan.
