TrueMotion Data
The United States saw a 5% increase in the number of drivers on the road this year on Election Day, according to analysis of TrueMotion Openroad and TrueMotion Family apps. The average percentage of drivers on the road on the three Tuesdays prior to November 3 was 68.2%. There were 71.5% of drivers on the road on Election Day
Trips per driver were up as well. The average number of trips per driver on Election Day was 2.85, an increase of 9.2% over the prior Tuesday. With trips on Election Day, it’s reasonable to assume these additional trips were to and from polling stations.
Miles per trip were down on Election Day as well, indicating that drivers were taking shorter trips overall. If drivers were going to their local polling station, trips would likely be shorter. The average miles per trip on the three Tuesdays prior to the election was 10.47. Election Day saw 9.6 miles per trip, a drop of 8.3%.
Driving levels returned to normal after Election Day.
Data from Wejo
In comparison to 5pm on a usual Tuesday afternoon, the volume of traffic on the roads in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania was materially higher than normal. This is likely due to a last minute rush to vote before the polls closed, in what has so far been the highest election turnout to-date.
In key swing state Pennsylvania, although all voters were eligible to vote by mail for the first time, Wejo’s connected car data insights highlight that there were clearly a high volume of voters who preferred to vote in person.
Pennsylvania saw an increase of up to 21.5% against expected volumes, Wisconsin up to 25.4% and Minnesota up to 31.6% more.
Richard Barlow, CEO and Founder of Wejo, said: “Our heightened connect car data insights shed light on a multitude of different societal activities, not least the movement of vehicles on election day. This is just one more example of how powerful connected car data can be.”