More density, less driving
April 3rd, 2008 by Jim JustEric de Place at The Daily Score has posted this chart showing the relationship between density and driving.
While not perfect, the correlation between density and mileage is pretty clear – the greater the density, the less the vehicle mileage per household.
Portland’s density is about 9,000 – about the same as Seattle. But the vehicle mileage per household is almost 30,000, while Seattle’s is a little above 25,000.
This is a little out of date – the study containing this chart was published in 2000, based on 1995 data. A bigger and clearer version is available here at page 6.
The scary thing that jumps out of this chart is that even in our most dense, most efficient cities, households drive about 20,000 miles each year. We’ve got a long way to go if we’re to wean ourselves off oil.