Driving down the curve
Sometimes the best driving is less driving—or not driving at all. As the COVID crisis has developed, Root customers have done their part to flatten the curve by trading their daily commutes for the safety of their homes. In this report, we explore our latest data to assess the impact of COVID on driving behavior.
Trips taken per day
As the national response to COVID has evolved, many states have seen sharp declines in driving. Since the beginning of March, we’ve analyzed nearly 100 million trips comprising more than 780 million miles, and have seen marked changes in the average daily number of miles driven, trips taken, and time spent driving.
% change
Not measured
>0%
-1-14%
-15-19%
-20-24%
-25-29%
<-30%
See driving trends for
Trips taken per day
Daily driving dropped significantly beginning in early March, with particularly sharp declines as mid-March stay-at-home orders took effect, and as much as 80% of the country sheltering in place by the end of the month.
See driving trends for
Trips per driver
- U.S. 2019
- U.S. 2020
- Stay-at-home orders
Key dates
March 12 – W.H.O. declares a global pandemic
March 14 – U.S. declares a national emergency
March 20 – Stay-at-home orders: California
March 22 – Stay-at-home orders: New Jersey
March 23 – Stay-at-home orders: New York
March 24 – Stay-at-home orders: Ohio, Oregon, Louisiana, Connecticut, and Washington
March 32 – Up to 80% of Americans under stay-at-home order (34 states)
Driving trends by metro area
Arkansas
1.89%
ft. smith - fayetteville - springdale - rogers:
2.5%
jonesboro:
1.73%
little rock - pine bluff:
1%
memphis:
20.79%
monroe, la - el dorado:
-3.1%
springfield:
-3.17%
Arizona
-13.79%
phoenix (prescott):
-15.16%
tucson (sierra vista):
-9.78%
yuma - el centro:
-2.35%
Colorado
-2.49%
colorado springs - pueblo:
3.66%
denver:
-4.87%
grand junction - montrose:
10.58%
Connecticut
-7.88%
hartford & new haven:
-4.63%
Delaware
-1.7%
salisbury:
-0.01%
Georgia
-4.27%
albany:
-4.74%
atlanta:
-6.53%
augusta:
-1.5%
macon:
0.17%
savannah:
0.36%
Iowa
-1.14%
cedar rapids - waterloo - iowa city & dubuque:
-5.76%
davenport - rock island - moline:
-6.34%
des moines - ames:
0.95%
ottumwa, ia - kirksville:
7.27%
rochester - mason city - austin:
5.16%
sioux city:
1.61%
Illinois
-12.3%
champaign & springfield - decatur:
-10.61%
chicago:
-19.08%
davenport - rock island - moline:
-8.38%
paducah - cape girardeau - harrisburg:
0.41%
peoria - bloomington:
-11.57%
quincy - hannibal - keokuk:
-14.59%
rockford:
-15.4%
Indiana
1.54%
evansville:
2.61%
ft. wayne:
2.93%
indianapolis:
-0.26%
lafayette:
-8.88%
south bend - elkhart:
11.03%
terre haute:
7.47%
Kentucky
2.36%
bowling green:
-4.17%
cincinnati:
-4.3%
evansville:
3.72%
lexington:
6.02%
louisville:
-1.3%
paducah - cape girardeau - harrisburg:
11.51%
tri - cities, tn - va:
63.33%
Louisiana
2.98%
alexandria:
17.62%
baton rouge:
1.4%
lafayette:
9.05%
lake charles:
5.77%
monroe, la - el dorado:
5.7%
new orleans:
-1.9%
shreveport:
8.4%
Maryland
-5.8%
baltimore:
-6.78%
salisbury:
17.33%
Missouri
-0.43%
columbia - jefferson city:
2.7%
joplin - pittsburg:
3.12%
kansas city:
-0.03%
paducah - cape girardeau - harrisburg:
6.96%
quincy - hannibal - keokuk:
15.98%
springfield:
8.76%
st. joseph:
-2.67%
st. louis:
-8.34%
Mississippi
1.79%
biloxi - gulfport:
2.73%
columbus - tupelo - west point:
0.98%
greenwood - greenville:
-8.38%
hattiesburg - laurel:
-3.43%
jackson:
1.43%
meridian:
6.37%
Montana
21.09%
billings:
11.27%
butte - bozeman:
34.07%
glendive:
-0.46%
great falls:
16.05%
helena:
32.66%
missoula:
20.57%
North Dakota
9.4%
fargo - valley city:
7.93%
minot - bismarck - dickinson (williston):
11.4%
Nebraska
-0.76%
cheyenne - scottsbluff:
3.98%
lincoln & hastings - kearney plus:
2.7%
north platte:
10.77%
omaha:
-7.11%
New Mexico
-4.68%
albuquerque - santa fe:
-5.03%
el paso (las cruces):
-7.43%
Nevada
-13.82%
las vegas:
-14.66%
reno:
-9.85%
Ohio
1.64%
cincinnati:
-1.51%
cleveland - akron (canton):
4.78%
columbus:
-5.91%
dayton:
1.93%
lima:
0.63%
toledo:
10.54%
wheeling - steubenville:
17.36%
youngstown:
18.78%
zanesville:
4.94%
Oklahoma
2.84%
oklahoma city:
1.17%
sherman - ada:
5.52%
tulsa:
2.4%
wichita falls & lawton:
10.63%
Oregon
1.85%
bend:
-4.53%
eugene:
9.42%
medford - klamath falls:
15.47%
portland:
-1.57%
Pennsylvania
-3.24%
erie:
16.23%
harrisburg - lancaster - lebanon - york:
-3.43%
johnstown - altoona:
5.69%
philadelphia:
-13.09%
pittsburgh:
3.23%
wilkes - barre - scranton:
2.27%
South Carolina
13.4%
charleston:
13.5%
charlotte:
8.2%
columbia:
9.34%
greenville - spartanburg - asheville - anderson:
14.69%
myrtle beach - florence:
22.42%
Tennessee
-0.39%
chattanooga:
5.2%
jackson:
18.9%
knoxville:
10.23%
memphis:
-2.1%
nashville:
-8.32%
tri - cities, tn - va:
15.18%
Texas
-7.69%
abilene - sweetwater:
6.66%
amarillo:
9.68%
austin:
-16.97%
beaumont - port arthur:
-0.43%
corpus christi:
-3.03%
dallas - fort worth:
-11.24%
el paso (las cruces):
-4.09%
harlingen - weslaco - brownsville - mcallen:
-6.85%
houston:
-9.22%
laredo:
-14.75%
lubbock:
-2.92%
odessa - midland:
6.39%
san angelo:
-4.72%
san antonio:
-8.55%
sherman - ada:
-1.23%
tyler - longview (lufkin & nacogdoches):
6.9%
victoria:
28.99%
waco - temple - bryan:
-0.44%
wichita falls & lawton:
6.03%
Utah
8.54%
salt lake city:
8.54%
Virginia
-9.02%
charlottesville:
-4.2%
norfolk - portsmouth - newport news:
-9.2%
richmond - petersburg:
-1.78%
roanoke - lynchburg:
-2.71%
tri - cities, tn - va:
7.22%
harrisonburg:
-14.87%
West Virginia
19.38%
clarksburg - weston:
13.15%
parkersburg:
-29.82%
wheeling - steubenville:
-12.41%
charleston - huntington:
87.48%
bluefield - beckley - oak hill:
61.16%
harrisonburg:
5.56%
Understanding insurance options during COVID
At Root, we’re committed to responding to the needs of our customers as the COVID crisis evolves.