Part two of an occasional series

Across America, the way we move is evolving. In communities big and small, people are rethinking how they get around — seeking faster, cleaner, and more affordable options. While long car commutes once seemed like an unavoidable part of daily life, a growing number of states are collaborating on policy design and showing that a better way is possible.

The data doesn’t lie — growing cities such as Minneapolis, MN, Denver, CO, and San Jose, CA are actually seeing car traffic hold steady or decline compared to pre-pandemic levels, even as their populations swell.

Driving increased in metro areas since the pandemic, but some areas buck the trend.

Source: Streetlight Data

Note: Data shows percent change in average daily VMT between May 2019 and May 2024.

What do successful metros share in common? An abundance of options.

In addition to other contributing factors, these cities all benefit from innovative state policy that prioritizes the buildout of abundant transportation options. These new, multimodal strategies are actually delivering congestion relief — saving time, cutting costs and pollution, and creating vibrant, connected communities that attract economic development.

The states are considering or have adopted innovative, target-driven policies to reduce traffic and expand affordable transportation choices.

Minnesota: driving down emissions — and leading a race to the top

The North Star State is no stranger to innovative transportation planning. In 2013, the City of Minneapolis, for example, was among the first in the country to set vehicle mode shift goals to enact its Climate Action Plan. It has since built 199 miles of bikeways and expanded bus and light rail service to realize its vision of abundant clean choices. These networks help explain why the Twin Cities saw car traffic decrease 3 percent between 2019 and 2024, even as population increased by over 118,000 residents in the same time period — a miracle of public policy planning.

Buoyed by the success of the strategy, in 2023 and 2024 Minnesota lawmakers adopted a groundbreaking series of laws to scale the framework statewide. The “driving down emissions” method works by offsetting tailpipe pollution from major roadway projects with new, clean transportation choices. Polling showed that 2 in 3 Minnesotans supported the need to “improve transportation options in Minnesota using funding from the state and federal government which would otherwise go to highway expansion.”

Graphic explaining the Minnesota “Driving Down Emissions” framework, courtesy of Move Minnesota

As decision makers considered the strategy in St. Paul, advocates spoke at length about the cost benefits of transportation choice abundance. RMI analysis quantified these benefits and found Minnesotan households stand to save $1,720 annually from avoided gas, maintenance, and depreciation costs due to the availability of more affordable ways to get around. The benefits extend to improved public health outcomes, traffic savings, and avoided car crashes, adding up to $91 billion savings by 2050 — an average of $3.4 billion each year.

Minnesota’s approach is now the law of the land but has yet to be implemented — indeed the State DOT only released its impact assessment guidance last month. However, we can follow the domino effect of state policy to see how similar frameworks played out in peer states, including Colorado and California.

The Twin Cities saw car traffic decrease 3 percent between 2019 and 2024, even as population increased by over 118,000 residents in the same time period — a miracle of public policy planning. This improvement can partially be attributed to investments in the Green Line light rail and other transportation choices.

Colorado: from gridlock to greenlight

In 2021, Colorado passed SB 21-260, the Sustainability of the Transportation System Act. The law asked state agencies to achieve greenhouse gas goals by expanding affordable transportation choices. Mechanically, this planning standard works very similarly to Minnesota’s approach in that it requires induced traffic from large roadway projects to be mitigated with clean transportation strategies.

The state projects that its commuters will save over $40 billion in net benefit due to the new, safe, and affordable infrastructure funded by the policy, primarily from savings at the pump and avoided crashes and traffic. Many of these cost-saving strategies are already underway, from new Bus Rapid Transit lines in urban Denver to additional e-bike units in the rural Roaring Fork Valley bikeshare system.

Bikeshare in the Roaring Fork Valley provides locals and tourists alike with a fast, affordable option to skip traffic and enjoy the rural community’s vast trail network.

Despite significant population growth, the amount Denverites drive has held constant since 2019, demonstrating the impact of these strategies towards helping more Coloradans skip traffic and save money.

California: Cruising ahead of the pack

A decade before Minnesota, California passed Senate Bill 743 in 2013, an unprecedented policy meant to promote more walkable, transit-served neighborhoods while combating smog. California found that this approach would save more than 8,000 lives per year from enabling more active lifestyles, while also saving another 5,400 lives a year from reduced air pollution.

The Golden State unlocked these benefits by asking planners to directly consider how projects might create additional car traffic and tailpipe pollution, as measured by VMT. SB 743 was designed with highway expansions in mind, challenging planners to consider new ways to prioritize moving the most people most conveniently, rather than just adding the most cars to the roadway.

Underpinning this approach is first-of-kind guidance (updated as recently as last year) for planners to better account for the science of induced demand. As a result of this and many other complementary policies, traffic and the need to drive in many California cities has decreased, serving as a valuable model for other states to follow.

California Department of Transportation graphic explaining the benefits of planning communities with smart policies that consider the effects of induced demand

The path ahead

Since Minnesota’s success driving forward the conversation about clean transportation choices, many states have joined the race to unlock the cost savings of climate-smart infrastructure planning.

In fact, in 2025, five other legislatures introduced bills modeling Minnesota’s compelling framework. Like a line of dominoes moving with increasing speed, the policy proposal secured bipartisan support in the Maryland house, over a dozen co-sponsors in New York, and the endorsement of key community groups in Illinois, Maine, and Massachusetts.

In nearly all of these states, decision makers and advocates cite our RMI Smarter MODES analysis to consider the benefits of strategies that expand transportation choices. Per our analysis, we find that innovative policy  approaches to increase transportation choices nationwide would save the average American household $2,110 a year and prevent over 6,000 automobile crashes annually. See your state’s specific results below:

US States could unlock cost, health, and other co-benefits if they expanded transportation choices and reduced the need to sit in traffic. See the full RMI Smarter MODES analysis here.

America’s traffic problem isn’t inevitable — it’s a choice. As Minnesota, Colorado, and California have shown, it’s possible to chart a new course: one where cleaner air, safer streets, and real transportation freedom go hand-in-hand. By shifting focus from simply moving more cars to instead moving more people conveniently, states can unlock massive cost savings and public health benefits now.