San Francisco ‘Best-Performing Metro’ for VMT, Traffic Reduction

San Francisco is one of the few U.S. cities to reduce its vehicle miles driven (VMT) per capita, according to a StreetLight Data report, which calls the city the “best-performing metro for congestion reduction.” Los Angeles also saw a similar reduction in VMT per capita. 

The drop could result from a combination of the high prevalence of remote knowledge-based jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area and broader policy efforts on the part of state and local governments.

Skip Descant, writing in GovTech, explains that California officials consider the impact on VMT when reviewing permits for new developments. According to Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, “any conditions we place on developments are really geared toward improving that type of [walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented] environment. I think that is going to be a big game changer.”