How does your city rank on the transportation climate index?

Cars with their headlines on driving on a paved road. — The VMT climate factor captures how many miles vehicles travel in a city on average each day.

Streetlight released its 2024 US Transportation Climate Impact Index, which ranks the top 100 most populated metros across eight key climate impact factors. We’re breaking down the numbers + diving into the rankings of 23 cities.

Behind the methodology

Each of the eight climate factors — vehicle miles traveled (VMT), fuel economy, transit ridership, EV penetration (number of electric vehicles per 100 people), biking activity, pedestrian activity, truck miles traveled, and VMT change — were assigned a weight “based on their relative climate impact.” Utilizing the ranking results for each factor, cities were then given an overall ranking.

Learn more about how each climate factor was measured.

Key themes

Vehicle miles traveled — the largest contributor to a city’s emission levels — bounced back since taking a dip in 2020.
Biking sustained popularity, but pedestrian activity “dropped significantly.”
The number of electric vehicles per 100 people is still relatively low. Read: We’re still not seeing a large saturation of EVs; most cities saw fewer than one EV per 100 people.

In addition to discovering key themes, the data can aid in identifying where improvements are needed and where current efforts are making an impact in each city. Find your city below to see how it ranked.

Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX

Bat City ranked No. 33, with varying rankings across the eight key factors:

VMT: No. 71
Fuel economy: No. 19
Transit ridership: No. 20
EV penetration: No. 9
Biking activity: No. 29
Pedestrian activity: No. 30
Truck miles traveled: No. 41
VMT change: No. 30

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

The City on the Hill received ranked No. 8 overall. Here’s how it ranked across the study’s key factors:

VMT: No. 24
Fuel economy: No. 8
Transit ridership: No. 3
EV penetration: No. 23
Biking activity: No. 19
Pedestrian activity: No. 5
Truck miles traveled: No. 3
VMT change: No. 16

Charleston-North Charleston, SC

The Holy City ranked No. 23 overall. Now, take a look at the individual climate factor rankings:

VMT: No. 87
Fuel economy: No. 70
Transit ridership: No. 79
EV penetration: No. 61
Biking activity: No. 43
Pedestrian activity: No. 16
Truck miles traveled: No. 79
VMT change: No. 60

A photo of a street in Charlotte with cars, light poles and electric towers in the foreground with skyscrapers in the background. — Transportation is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the US.

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

The Queen City ranked No. 89 overall. Take a look at how it ranked across the climate factors:

VMT: No. 94
Fuel economy: No. 53
Transit ridership: No. 53
EV penetration: No. 43
Biking activity: No. 73
Pedestrian activity: No. 69
Truck miles traveled: No. 63
VMT change: No. 84

Chattanooga, TN-GA

Chattanooga ranked No. 94 overall. Here’s how it ranked across the study’s key factors:

VMT: No. 73
Fuel economy: No. 93
Transit ridership: No. 78
EV penetration: No. 84
Biking activity: No. 76
Pedestrian activity: No. 95
Truck miles traveled: No. 99
VMT change: No. 96

Columbia, SC

Soda City received a ranking of 98 out of 100. Here are the key factor rankings that helped determine this overall ranking:

VMT: No. 95
Fuel economy: No. 89
Transit ridership: No. 87
EV penetration: No. 90
Biking activity: No. 95
Pedestrian activity: No. 73
Truck miles traveled: No. 80
VMT change: No. 80

Columbus, OH

Columbus ranked No. 59 overall. Take a look at how it ranked across the climate factors:

VMT: No. 64
Fuel economy: No. 41
Transit ridership: No. 56
EV penetration: No. 55
Biking activity: No. 37
Pedestrian activity: No. 64
Truck miles traveled: No. 73
VMT change: No. 75

A photo of the downtown Fort Worth skyline taken from the Near Southside. — The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area ranked in the top 50 for EV penetration; this climate factor included any vehicle with an electric or hydrogen engine and hybrids were assigned half a point.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

The Dallas-Fort Worth metro ranked No. 79, with varying rankings across the eight key factors:

VMT: No. 93
Fuel economy: No. 46
Transit ridership: No. 49
EV penetration: No. 31
Biking activity: No. 82
Pedestrian activity: No. 67
Truck miles traveled: No. 62
VMT change: No. 76

Greenville-Anderson, SC

Greenville received a ranking of 93 out of 100. Here are the key factor rankings that helped determine this overall ranking:

VMT: No. 80
Fuel economy: No. 95
Transit ridership: No. 96
EV penetration: No. 83
Biking activity: No. 93
Pedestrian activity: No. 86
Truck miles traveled: No. 66
VMT change: No. 58

Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN

Indy ranked No. 66 on the transportation climate index. The city’s key factor rankings are:

VMT: No. 78
Fuel economy: No. 61
Transit ridership: No. 74
EV penetration: No. 54
Biking activity: No. 47
Pedestrian activity: No. 63
Truck miles traveled: No. 91
VMT change: No. 8

Photo of downtown Kansas City and Union Station — Fun fact: The KC Streetcar travels two miles through the heart of downtown and is fare-free.

Kansas City, MO-KS

Kansas City ranked No. 63 overall. Take a look at how it ranked across the climate factors:

VMT: No. 54
Fuel economy: No. 73
Transit ridership: No. 50
EV penetration: No. 56
Biking activity: No. 65
Pedestrian activity: No. 87
Truck miles traveled: No. 77
VMT change: No. 43

Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL

Swan City received a ranking of 64 out of 100. Here are the key factor rankings that helped determine this overall ranking:

VMT: No. 75
Fuel economy: No. 57
Transit ridership: No. 94
EV penetration: No. 67
Biking activity: No. 33
Pedestrian activity: No. 38
Truck miles traveled: No. 90
VMT change: No. 77

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN

Derby City ranked No. 69 overall. Take a look at how it ranked across the climate factors:

VMT: No. 50
Fuel economy: No. 75
Transit ridership: No. 62
EV penetration: No. 82
Biking activity: No. 75
Pedestrian activity: No. 92
Truck miles traveled: No. 86
VMT change: No. 34

Madison, WI

Madison ranked No. 37 overall. Here’s how it ranked across the study’s key factors:

VMT: No. 62
Fuel economy: No. 29
Transit ridership: No. 21
EV penetration: No. 32
Biking activity: No. 23
Pedestrian activity: No. 47
Truck miles traveled: No. 57
VMT change: No. 13

Nashville-Davidson—Murfreesboro—Franklin, TN

Music City ranked No. 85 on the transportation climate index. The city’s key factor rankings are:

VMT: No. 86
Fuel economy: No. 60
Transit ridership: No. 83
EV penetration: No. 45
Biking activity: No. 83
Pedestrian activity: No. 78
Truck miles traveled: No. 97
VMT change: No. 87

A photo at dusk of downtown Orlando, Florida. — Orlando has several pedestrian bridges, which may have a positive impact on its high pedestrian activity ranking.

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

Orlando ranked No. 41, with varying rankings across the eight key factors:

VMT: No. 96
Fuel economy: No. 9
Transit ridership: No. 40
EV penetration: No. 22
Biking activity: No. 38
Pedestrian activity: No. 1
Truck miles traveled: No. 48
VMT change: No. 5

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

The City of Roses ranked No. 7 on the transportation climate index. Its key factor rankings are:

VMT: No. 8
Fuel economy: No. 18
Transit ridership: No. 9
EV penetration: No. 8
Biking activity: No. 6
Pedestrian activity: No. 44
Truck miles traveled: No. 20
VMT change: No. 35

Raleigh-Cary, NC

The City of Oaks ranked No. 42 overall. Take a look at how it ranked across the climate factors:

VMT: No. 60
Fuel economy: No. 20
Transit ridership: No. 55
EV penetration: No. 21
Biking activity: No. 45
Pedestrian activity: No. 58
Truck miles traveled: No. 46
VMT change: No. 32

Richmond, VA

Richmond ranked No. 84 on the transportation climate index. The city’s key factor rankings are:

VMT: No. 90
Fuel economy: No. 71
Transit ridership: No. 45
EV penetration: No. 60
Biking activity: No. 70
Pedestrian activity: No. 65
Truck miles traveled: No. 60
VMT change: No. 37

San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

Alamo City ranked No. 95 on the transportation climate index. The city’s key factor rankings are:

VMT: No. 97
Fuel economy: No. 67
Transit ridership: No. 26
EV penetration: No. 46
Biking activity: No. 64
Pedestrian activity: No. 56
Truck miles traveled: No. 71
VMT change: No. 65

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Emerald City ranked No. 5 overall. Take a look at how it ranked across the climate factors:

VMT: No. 2
Fuel economy: No. 6
Transit ridership: No. 5
EV penetration: No. 6
Biking activity: No. 17
Pedestrian activity: No. 43
Truck miles traveled: No. 10
VMT change: No. 62

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Tampa received a ranking of 27 out of 100. Here are the key factor rankings that helped determine this overall ranking:

VMT: No. 43
Fuel economy: No. 24
Transit ridership: No. 44
EV penetration: No. 28
Biking activity: No. 25
Pedestrian activity: No. 34
Truck miles traveled: No. 32
VMT change: No. 27

Winston-Salem, NC