Climate & Environment
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)
The total distance vehicles drive — the demand metric that determines transport emissions more than any technology.
Definition
Vehicle miles traveled is the aggregate distance driven by vehicles in a system over a period — the fundamental measure of road transport activity and a first-order determinant of emissions, congestion, crashes and road wear. Policy analysis distinguishes VMT growth from efficiency: the US experience showed fuel economy gains largely eaten by VMT growth, and California's SB 743 made VMT reduction itself (rather than congestion) the environmental test of development projects.
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