Post-pandemic traffic patterns reveal driver inequities

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A recent survey by AAA Texas found driving habits have stabilized since the pandemic but revealed safety issues for older cars. The numbers show most Americans -- more than 93% drive at least occasionally -- averaging more than 2 trips a day, spending 60 minutes a day in the car, traveling almost 30 miles each day. Most daily drives were to run errands.

It found newer vehicles are used more for longer trips and greater distances, and that Hispanic & Latino drivers had the highest driving durations and miles compared to all other ethnic groups in 2023.

KXAN Traffic Anchor Erica Brennes sat down to discuss these numbers with Daniel Armbruster from AAA Texas.

Erica: "We're going to talk a little bit about post-pandemic driving patterns. AAA conducted a survey about driving patterns and drivers, I guess, whether they're happy with how things are shaping up, what did they find?"

Daniel: "Yeah, 2024 has been a record year for travel. We saw this summer, we saw record travel over Fourth of July. We saw near-record travel at Memorial Day. And of course, all modes of travel saw an increase year over year when it came to travel."

Erica: "And I would imagine some areas like the Austin area, we've had so many new people move to the Austin area since 2019, you see now you not only have travel stabilizing, but you have all these new people that are here in town that we have to deal with on the roadways that maybe we weren't used to before 2020."

Daniel: "Yeah, it's something that's happening across Texas. We see that in the Austin area, Waco, Dallas, Fort Worth San Antonio, even Houston. People love Texas, and they're moving here and so of course, that means more people on our roadways and more people who aren't familiar with our roadways, so that's something you know we're going to have to work out in the next few years, but and get used to as well. But nonetheless, more people are on the roads."

Erica: "When we break down some of these travel numbers and the travel patterns that you're seeing, what are some of the numbers that stand out?"

Daniel: "We know that people who have jobs are working, they tend to drive more, not surprising, but errands were the number one reason that people drove in and so, and we know that Hispanic and Latino drivers have the highest driving durations and miles compared to all other ethnicities. And so men spend substantially more time driving daily than women. So those are kind of some of the demographic breakdowns as well."

Erica: "I think it's really interesting when you break some of those numbers down because you think about, you have your city center, it's expensive to live there. So unless you're, you know, in that really top level of income, you've got to go a little further out and further out and further out and so forth and so. So then, in turn, you've got to drive more to get to where the jobs are. And so it's this trickle-down effect of, well, you spend more time in the car. That's more wear and tear on your car. And you know, it's sort of this double-edged sword, right?"

Daniel: "Yeah, more research needs to be done to address these inequities, but they're certainly there, and certainly, like you pointed out, if your income is lower, you're probably not going to live near where the jobs are. You're going to have to drive more, and you probably have an older vehicle that is more likely to break down or have issues."