Atlanta drivers travel thousands more miles a year than national average, study finds
ATLANTA - When it comes to driving, a new study reveals that Atlantans are spending a lot of time in the car going everywhere they need to go.
The study from the Brookings Institute revealed that the average driver in Atlanta drove nearly 36,000 miles in 2022 alone.
That places metro Atlanta sixth on the list for overall miles traveled among the country's 110 largest areas.
The study found that the average person in those areas drove much less than people in Atlanta - nearly 6,000 miles less.
Traffic on Interstate 75 near Marietta, Georgia, U.S., on Thursday, May 13, 2021. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The analysts at the Brookings Institute were examining the number of personal miles traveled, or PMT, and the proximity to what they called "multiple activity centers" using data from cell phone geolocation, credit card transactions, and demographic information.
The study found that while parts of Atlanta traveled much less than others - nearly 40% less - overall we are still spending time traveling.
"Atlanta’s most proximate neighborhoods are home to only 16% of the metro area’s population; prioritizing growth in these areas is an ideal lever to reduce the metro area’s overall travel distances," the Brookings Institute said.
The researchers argued the country could improve health outcomes, budgets, and environmental quality if officials do more to promote development in these "high-proximity neighborhoods."