VMT
Basics
FHWA Gleefully Declares That Driving Is Up, Calls for More Highway Spending
Well, so much for the predictions that changing preferences and new technologies will lead to a car-free utopia. The Federal Highway Administration announced last week that after nine years of steady decline, vehicle-miles-traveled in the U.S. was 1.4 percent higher this June than last June. Apparently, red-blooded Americans everywhere are finally getting back to their Hummer habit after a few years of diminished driving and rising transit ridership and bike commuting.
September 2, 2014
California Has Officially Ditched Car-Centric ‘Level of Service’
Ding, dong...LOS is dead.
August 7, 2014
Arizonans Driving Like It’s 1994
Here's more evidence that there's a shift underway in how Americans get around: The Arizona Public Interest Research Group has released a new report [PDF] showing that residents of this sprawling Sun Belt state are driving less and taking transit more.
July 23, 2014
While the Economy Grows, Americans Continue to Drive Less
The last time the average American drove this little, Bill Clinton was president and Seinfeld was the most-watched show in the country. Not since 1994 has per capita driving been as low as it is now, according to new data from the Federal Highway Administration compiled by economist Doug Short.
May 28, 2014
Dueling Forecasts: Does the Energy Dept. Know Something U.S. DOT Doesn’t?
Tony Dutzik is a senior policy analyst with the Frontier Group. This article was originally posted on the Frontier Group's blog.
April 16, 2014
Fitch Ratings: Failure to Invest in Transit Could Hurt the Whole Economy
One of the country's leading financial ratings agencies is warning that if America doesn't change how it invests in transit, the whole economy could suffer.
March 27, 2014
The Fuzzy Math in the Road Lobby’s Memo to Congress
Don’t know what to make of the news that U.S. driving rates have dropped for the ninth year in a row? Looking for guidance about whether your state or city should be wantonly expanding roads or investing in transit, biking, and walking? The road lobby thinks you should turn to them for independent, unbiased analysis of these trends. Never fear, the road lobby says: Americans are driving more than ever. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. More lanes for everybody!
March 25, 2014
Driving Declines Spell Big Trouble for Turnpikes
What the New Jersey Turnpike Authority did in 2005 was no different than what almost every other state and regional transportation agency was doing at the time. It predicted that traffic volumes would rise at a healthy clip every year for about 30 years into the future. Then it estimated its revenues based on those figures and issued bonds for a $2.5 billion road widening project.
March 12, 2014
Let’s Do the Time Warp Again: U.S. DOT Fails to Get Travel Forecasting Right
The U.S. Department of Transportation seems to be stuck in a bizarre time warp. For nine years in a row Americans have decreased their average driving miles. Yet U.S. DOT’s most recent biennial report to Congress on the state of the nation’s transportation system, released last Friday, forecasts that total vehicle miles will increase between 1.36 percent to 1.85 percent each year through 2030.
March 3, 2014
As Driving Continues to Stagnate, Some States Finally Start to Adjust
Another year, another decline in per capita driving. For the ninth year in a row, the cumulative distance Americans drive is down, adjusting for population, according to new data from the Federal Highway Administration. Total driving by all Americans has fallen about 2 percent since 2007 -- or 7 percent per capita -- and is lower than it was in 2005.
February 25, 2014