by Calculated Risk on 5/23/2021 08:09:00 AM

This will be something to watch as the economy recovers.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported:

Travel on all roads and streets changed by 19.0% (42.0 billion vehicle miles) for March 2021 as compared with March 2020. Travel for the month is estimated to be 263.0 billion vehicle miles.

The seasonally adjusted vehicle miles traveled for March 2021 is 261.1 billion miles, an 18.5% (40.7 billion vehicle miles) increase over March 2020. It also represents a 6.2% increase (15.2 billion vehicle miles) compared with February 2021.

Cumulative Travel for 2021 changed by -2.1% (-14.9 billion vehicle miles). The cumulative estimate for the year is 691.5 billion vehicle miles of travel.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the monthly total vehicle miles driven, seasonally adjusted.

Miles driven declined sharply in March 2020, and really collapsed in April.  After partially recovering fairly quickly, miles driven was mostly flat for 6+ months - but really picked up in March 2021.