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Americans Drove 1.4 Billion Fewer Highway Miles in April of 2008 than in April 2007

In April 2008, Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles than they did a year earlier, according to the most recent Federal Highway Administration’s “Traffic Volume Trends” report. This is more than double the difference in highway miles traveled in March 2008 and the same time period in the preceding year, which was only 400 million miles.

Americans have driven less for sixth months in a row, primarily because of record-high gas prices. Vehicle miles traveled on all public roads for April 2008 fell 1.8 percent as compared with April 2007 travel, accelerating the decline of nearly 20 billion miles traveled this year, and nearly 30 billion miles traveled since November.

The trend reflects an equally strong surge in transit ridership. The growing shift in transportation could threaten Highway Trust Fund with less revenues from gasoline and diesel sales.

Mid-size SUV sales fell 38% over May of last year. Car sales, which had accounted for less than half of the industry volume in 2007, rose to 57 percent in May. Although Americans have historically continued to drive despite high gas prices, they tend to drive more fuel efficient vehicles.

“History shows that we’re going to continue to see congested roads while gas tax revenues decline even further,” said Mary K. Peters, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.