Total vehicle miles traveled in the United States surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time in 2024. Federal Highway Administration data show 3.28 trillion miles driven, clearing the 3.26 trillion recorded in 2019. On its face, the road network is as busy as it ever was. What that headline number conceals is a structural shift in when, where, and why people drive. The GAO’s 2026 review of telework’s transportation effects separates the aggregate from the composition.

Sometimes the most surprising stories hide inside familiar routines, like sitting behind a long line of brake lights wondering why everything feels slower than last year. The newly released INRIX 2025 Global Traffic Scorecard brings numbers to that shared irritation, and honestly, reading through it feels a bit like staring into the mirror of global mobility dysfunction. Out of nearly a thousand cities across 36 countries, congestion rose in most places—62% saw traffic worsen—making 2025 another year where mobility progress slipped backward.