Fresh data from the Federal Highway Commission details the amount of travel by American's on roads and highways through March 2013. When adjusted for population growth, a conclusion for a new age emerges: the driving boom is over.
"The Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Commission has released the latest report on Traffic Volume Trends, data through March," reports Doug Short.
The data supports the narrative that American's are driving less. "Travel on all roads and streets changed by 0.2% (0.5 billion vehicle miles) for March 2014 as compared with March 2013 (see report). However, if we factor in population growth, the civilian population-adjusted data (age 16-and-over) is at a another new post-Financial Crisis low, as is the total population-adjusted variant."
Moreover the length of time that driving has declined is also a record, according to Short's analysis: "The most recent decline has lasted for 76 months and counting — a new record, but the trough to date was in November 2011, 48 months from the all-time high."
FULL STORY: Vehicle Miles Driven: Another Population-Adjusted Low
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research