text:  More Americans are driving this summer. 2024 may be another summer of the Great American Road Trip, but traffic is already worse in major US cities. It may be because more and more Americans are living further from downtown areas and their offices. According to a study by Stanford University, between 2021 and 2023, the 56 largest metropolitan areas in the US lost nearly 2 million people. And the number of long commutes, rides of 75 miles or longer, are now up a third since 2020.