VMT
Basics
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
2013: Another Year of Falling Per-Capita Driving in U.S.
This post was originally published on the blog of the Frontier Group, where the author is a senior policy analyst.
February 24, 2014
T&I Chair Bill Shuster Complicates Matters With Push for VMT Fee
All options may be on the table for funding transportation, but Bill Shuster has chosen his.
February 5, 2014
Transpo Agencies Are Terrible at Predicting Traffic Levels
Americans' travel behavior is changing dramatically. It seems like not a week passes without a new report about the decline in driving. But are state and local transportation agencies -- which are responsible for much of the nation's highway and transportation planning -- keeping up with the facts on the ground? A review of the evidence by the State Smart Transportation Initiative finds the answer is a definitive "No."
December 17, 2013
Twin Cities Region Grows While Car Use Shrinks
Residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Region are letting their feet off the gas.
October 30, 2013
Beyond “Level of Service” — New Methods for Evaluating Streets
Streetsblog reported earlier this month that transportation agencies are increasingly aware of the insidious consequences of using "Level of Service" as the primary metric for their projects. Because Level of Service only rewards the movement of motor vehicles, it promotes dangerous, high-speed streets and sprawling land use.
October 23, 2013
SSTI to Transport Officials: Start Planning for a Future With Less Driving
For a long time in the United States, driving activity moved in step with the economy. Since economic growth was fairly steady, consistent growth in driving was built into all the traffic modeling the engineers used to plan and build streets and transportation infrastructure.
October 2, 2013
Ten Questions (and Answers) About Oregon’s New VMT Charge
This summer, Oregon’s legislature passed a bill creating a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. For those who recognize the shortcomings of the gas tax for charging for road use, it was a big victory. But the program authorized by the state is a modest one, creating a voluntary program for just 5,000 drivers of high-efficiency vehicles.
September 24, 2013
Old Solutions: U.S. DOT’s Proposed Strategic Plan Falls Short
Andy Clarke is the president of the League of American Bicyclists. This article originally appeared on the League's blog.
September 6, 2013
More Evidence That Unemployment Doesn’t Explain the Decline in Driving
For those who say driving rates will pick right back up again when the economy's really humming, here’s something to chew on: In a report released this morning, “Moving Off the Road,” U.S. PIRG presents further evidence that unemployment rates and driving rates have changed independently of each other.
August 29, 2013