Daily travel ticks up in Twin Cities, but remains below pre-pandemic levels

Twin Cities residents are still making fewer daily trips than they did before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting teleworking is still having an impact on when and where we go.

"We all know the five-day, 9-to-5 commute is not the same," said Eric Lind, director of the Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies. "Even if it's just three days a week ... that is a 40 percent drop right off the bat."

The most recent findings of the Metropolitan Council's Travel Behavior Inventory Household Survey found the average person made 3.5 daily trips per person in 2023, about 16% lower than before COVID-19, but up slightly since the pandemic waned.

The survey, aimed at delving into daily transportation patterns, asked nearly 3,800 residents in the seven-county metro area and some adjacent counties to log their trips and destinations over the course of 2023.

Though people are making fewer trips, that does not mean roads are less congested. The number of vehicle miles traveled is at or near pre-pandemic levels, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Roads are busier than they used to be during the midday hours and stay humming longer into the evening, said MnDOT spokeswoman Anne Meyer.

Analysts are still sifting through the results, but Lind said work from home could be playing a role in shifting trip patterns and result in different kinds of trips.

"They have replaced trips to the office with trips from home to the store, or from home to child care or school pickup, trips they would not have done pre-COVID," he said. "They have the opportunity to do that."

The questions that transportation planners need to ask are if all the trips are happening at the same time, resulting in more midday or afternoon traffic, and if roads are able to handle the traffic.

Jonathan Ehrlich, a senior manager of travel behavior research for the Met Council, found commuting trips in 2023 make up about 35% of vehicle miles traveled, down from pre-COVID levels.

With more flexible work schedules, people may be making longer trips or combining recreational, social and shopping outings, he said.

"They may be making multiple stops, not making more trips," he said. And even if they are going to work, "with flexible schedules they can stop along the way."

The data revealed other findings that may be key for planners. Not surprisingly, the car remains king, with 84% of all trips by automobile. And nearly half of car trips were made by drivers with a household income of $100,000 or more.

Walking was the second most prevalent way of travel, followed by school bus, transit, scooters and bicycles, and rideshare.

For people with a household income of $25,000 and under, rideshare and taxi were the most common way to travel. People of color also were more likely than whites to use rideshare and accounted for 43% of trips on mass transit, the survey found.

Employment status also is affecting travel, the survey found. Those who were employed full time tended to start their travel between 6 and 7 a.m. and during the traditional 4-6 p.m. rush hour. Those not employed were most likely to travel between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. while part-time workers traveled evenly throughout the day.

The Travel Behavior Inventory Household Survey had been done once a decade through 2010, but that recently changed to every two years. The switch, Ehrlich said, came because "travel behavior is changing, is more volatile and more uncertain than in the past."

The next survey will begin later this year or in early 2026.

"Data collection is continuing," Ehrlich said. "The who, when and why is changing over time. It's vital to help us and partners make good decisions formed by data."