Americans drove less in March 2008 for the first time in 29 years, according to estimates released today from the Federal Highway Administration. 


The FHWA’s “Traffic Volume Trends” report, produced monthly since 1942,  shows that estimated vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on all U.S. public roads for March 2008 fell 4.3 percent as compared with March 2007 travel. This is the first time estimated March travel on public roads fell since 1979. At 11 billion miles less in March 2008 than in the previous March, this is the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history.


Though February 2008 showed a modest 1 billion mile increase over February 2007, cumulative VMT has fallen by 17.3 billion miles since November 2006. Total VMT in the United States for 2006, the most recent year for which such data are available, topped 3 trillion miles.


To review the FHWA’s “Traffic Volume Trends” reports, visit http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tvtw/tvtpage.htm.