1. People are leaving home less and bundling trips more.

Seattle-area residents are making fewer and shorter trips for shopping, dining, or social activities, compared to before the pandemic. We call these home-based other or HBO trips in the industry, to distinguish them from home-to-work trips.

One of the major factors in this trend relates to the increased use of delivery services rather than going out, in addition to combining multiple errands into a single outing.

What the data show:

• On a typical weekday, people made 3.8 trips per person—about 7% fewer than in 2019.
• People often bundle errands or choose delivery and virtual options over going out.
• Deliveries more than doubled, rising from ~31% of households in 2019 to 68% in 2023.
• Discretionary trips for shopping, dining, and socializing are less common and shorter.

Why it matters: Traditional travel models tend to substantially overestimate trip generation. For years, travel models have struggled to accurately reflect real-world behavior. The pandemic widened that gap. Both regional forecasting models and local project trip generation tools that are calibrated to yesterday’s patterns may fall short today, especially in mixed-use neighborhoods with a higher share of discretionary trips.

Our approach: We’ve refined our MXD project-level trip generation tool to account for local context and the built environment. By using actual observed conditions and up-to-date data, MXD can provide a clearer, current picture of trip generation. This allows planners to replace dated assumptions with the latest evidence and make stronger decisions early, before projects are locked in.

2. Commuters who drive are adding more stops to their work trips.

The Puget Sound survey revealed a rise in non-home-based trips, those that start and end somewhere other than home. A key reason is that people who drive to work are more likely to run errands on their way to or from their place of employment. This trend is even more pronounced for hybrid workers, amplifying the post-pandemic change.

What the data show:

• Non-home-based trips are up; home-based work trips are slightly down.
• More people are driving to work and combining multiple stops.
• Full-time workers average 4.0 trips per weekday—more than in previous years—versus 3.6 for part-time workers.

Why it matters: Trip chaining (combining multiple stops into one outing) is harder to do on transit and complicates parking forecasts. It can also shift congestion to unexpected places as people mix trip purposes along a single route. For drivers, though, chaining trips reduces total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) compared to making the same trips separately, which has environmental and congestion-reducing benefits.

Our approach: These patterns underscore the close link between land use and driving, and the value of multilayered analysis. Our VMTIndex tool shows VMT per person at the census block group level. This shows how much driving is generated in different contexts and across different regions. With this perspective, planners and policymakers can better anticipate how design and land use changes can shape overall travel demand.

3. People are walking and biking less.

The PSRC travel survey showed a clear decline in walking and biking trips. This is partly linked to a drop in transit use (discussed below), which reduces “first/last mile” walks to and from transit. It also suggests a decrease in casual or incidental walking trips.

What the data show:

• Cars account for roughly 86% of all weekday trips.
• Walking makes up less than 10%, and biking less than 1% of all travel.
• Lower-income households walk for nearly 25% of trips, often out of necessity.
• Car use is higher across all income groups than before the pandemic.

Why it matters: Walking and biking can reduce vehicle traffic, congestion, and air pollution. Increased physical activity also has strong public health benefits. We can encourage those activities by making them safer and by creating welcoming public spaces. If streets don’t feel inviting or useful for pedestrians, people who are able to drive will often do so, even for short trips. Safer walking and biking routes also improve mobility for lower-income households who often rely on them the most.

Our approach: We’ve seen how thoughtful street design can reverse these patterns. For example, in Puyallup, WA, we worked with the city to reimagine Meeker Street as a flexible, pedestrian-oriented festival space. Projects like this demonstrate how design can invite walking and gathering, making everyday trips more appealing and accessible.

4. People are riding transit less.

Despite positive developments like new, high-frequency buses and expanded light rail, Seattle-area transit ridership has fallen across all trip purposes.

Although transit use in downtown Seattle has risen in recent years, it remains below pre-pandemic levels. This is true for both Seattle proper and the wider metropolitan area. Reduced service and other factors have limited ridership growth. In 2023, King County Metro provided fewer trips than in 2019. Like many other operators, Metro struggled to restore service levels amid labor shortages.

Another challenge: people with hybrid work schedules and those running errands throughout the day often find public transit less convenient than driving.

What the data show:

• Overall, transit remains well below pre-pandemic levels.
• Ridership is down across all trip purposes, despite new light rail and bus lines.
• Non-home-based transit trips saw the largest decrease between 2019 and 2023.
• Home-based school trips and non-home-based trips increased.
• In contrast, home-based trips for purposes like shopping and dining declined.

Why it matters: Transit agencies need to adapt to bring riders back. The traditional model of prioritizing peak-hour commuter service is no longer relevant to many people. To compete with the convenience of a personal vehicle, transit needs to be reliable, frequent, and useful all day long.

Our approach: One question we’re exploring is, what actually brings riders back? By using both service data and rider insights, we help agencies redistribute service where and when it’s needed most, while also improving the experience to resolve riders’ past concerns. We recently partnered with Community Transit, the Puget Sound region’s third-largest transit operator, to evaluate countywide travel patterns. This work will help match frequent, all-day routes with areas of highest demand.

Zooming Out: Nationwide Changes in Travel and Transit

While the Seattle area has its own unique geography and transit dynamics, other parts of the US have experienced similar travel changes since before the pandemic.

According to a 2025 study our team co-authored in ITE Journal, some of the new travel patterns that emerged during the pandemic have become permanent.

For example, the above study showed that remote work remains elevated. In 2023, about 13.8% of Americans were working from home, more than double pre-pandemic levels. This trend affects everything from commuting to transit demand.

The US also has more drivers on the road these days. During the four-year period analyzed in the above study, the US added roughly 6 million licensed drivers.

This is why travel data matters: while the details vary by location, the implications are national.

The PSRC survey is one case study, but the questions it raises about how and why people travel are universal. These shifts aren’t just data points; they’re signals that communities everywhere are rethinking mobility. By learning from local behavior, we can design systems that are more resilient, equitable, and people-centered.