Road trips pick up in U.S. as coronavirus restrictions ease

Local intelligence platform Arrivalist says the volume of road trips in the United States the weekend of May 1 was at nearly the same level that it was in February, before COVID-19-related stay-at-home orders went into effect in states across the country.

It also finds that the volume of trips that weekend was substantially higher than it was just a week before.

The data comes from Arrivalist’s Daily Travel Index, which measures the volume of daily vehicle trips of at least 50 miles using anonymized GPS data from smartphones and other sensors and excluding commuter, freight, delivery and other types of frequently repeated trips.

The total volume of trips on Friday, May 1, was 92% of the volume on an average day in February.

The biggest change was in longer roads trips of from 100 to 250 miles. Trips of that distance on Friday exceeded the average number of trips on any day in February by 6.1%. And for trips of more than 250 miles, volume on May 1 was at 91.2% of the February level on an average day.

“This is the first time we’ve seen the index go positive for a particular mileage band – the first hint that we’re back to what some might call normal,” says Arrivalist founder and CEO Cree Lawson.

“This was much sooner than we anticipated measuring that. We should note that we’re comparing May activity, traditionally higher, with February data in order to capture the impact of the virus.”

Looking at week-to-week data, Michigan led all states in increased travel May 1 and 2 as compared to April 24 and 25. There were 83% more road trips of 50 miles or more in Michigan this past weekend compared to a week prior. Next on the list are Illinois (up 60.3%), Pennsylvania (55%), Washington, D.C. (50.6%) and Tennessee (50.5%).

At the bottom of the list were New Hampshire with just an 8.4% increase in trips this past weekend and Maine at 3.9%.

For trips of at least 250 miles or more, New Jersey saw the greatest increase May 1 and 2 compared to a week earlier, with a 64% increase, followed by South Dakota (up 44%) and Ohio (up 40%).