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| December 30, 2009
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VMT Dropped Half a Point in October; Still Up Slightly for Year |
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Americans decreased their driving by 0.5 percent in October compared to the same month a year earlier, the Federal Highway Administration reported. That's the largest year-over-year monthly decline recorded since March, when driving was down 1.2 percent.
Vehicle miles traveled are estimated to have dropped by 1.4 billion in October, according to the administration's "Traffic Volume Trends" report, reaching 250.8 billion miles. This is the first year-over-year monthly decline in driving experienced since May. September driving this year was up a revised 2.3 percent from September 2008. For the first 10 months of this year, driving is up 0.2 percent compared to the same period in 2008. FHWA estimates motorists have driven 4.8 billion more miles this year than they did last year. The report is available at tinyurl.com/VMT1009. Questions regarding this article may be directed to editor@aashtojournal.org. |