by Calculated Risk on 4/21/2021 12:23:00 PM

This will be something to watch as the economy recovers.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported:

Travel on all roads and streets changed by -12.1% (-28.3 billion vehicle miles) for February 2021 as compared with February 2020. Travel for the month is estimated to be 205.4 billion vehicle miles.

The seasonally adjusted vehicle miles traveled for February 2021 is 245.9 billion miles, a -10.6% (-29.1 billion vehicle miles) decline from February 2020. It also represents -0.4% decline (-1.1 billion vehicle miles) compared with January 2021.

Cumulative Travel for 2021 changed by -11.7% (-56.7 billion vehicle miles). The cumulative estimate for the year is 428.7 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 during the great recession, and the rolling 12 months stayed below the previous peak for a record 85 months.

Miles driven declined sharply in March, and really collapsed in April.  After partially recovering fairly quickly, miles driven have been mostly flat for the last 6+ months.