Source: California Greenhouse Gas Inventory - by Sector and Activity, California Air Resources Board; Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
Analysis by CEC Economics
Highlights
- Total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in California increased by 1.4% (or 4.4 billion miles) between 2021 and 2022, to 315.2 billion miles. Meanwhile, VMT per person rose faster due to a declining population, rising 2.0% during the same period to 8,059 miles per person. Similarly, VMT per vehicle also rose faster than VMT in percentage terms due to having fewer vehicles registered in 2022 than in 2021, rising 2.2% to 10,130 miles per vehicle in 2022. Total VMT is expected to rebound further in 2023 from the pent-up demand for travel and as COVID-19 restrictions have eased.
- GHG emissions from surface transportation in California decreased by 4.2% or 5.7 MMTCO2e from 2021 to 2022, while the GHG emission from surface transportation per capita decreased by 3.7% during the same period. When compared to 2019 levels, both per capita vehicle miles traveled (-6.3%) and total vehicle miles traveled (-7.5%) were lower in 2022. Total GHG emissions from surface transportation (-14.1%) and emissions per capita (-13.0%) were also lower in 2022 compared to the 2019 pre-pandemic level.
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