Miles driven is up 3.9 percent in March, or 9.8 billion vehicle miles, compared with March 2014. The Federal Highway Administration a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation released the latest numbers this week.
Travel for the month of March is estimated to be 261.7 billion vehicle miles. Cumulative travel for the year is up 3.9 percent, up 26.9 billion vehicle miles. The estimate for the year is 720.1 billion vehicle miles.
Looking at month-over-month figures, two regions tied for the largest increase—the Northeast and South Atlantic. Each showed growth of 20.7 percent from February 2015. The region with the slightest incline was North Central, up 16.1 percent.
Comparing year-over-year figures, the largest growth came in the West, up 5.3 percent. The slightest growth was in the Northeast, up 1.3 percent.
Month-over-month figures in millions:
Region | March 2015 (Preliminary) | February 2015 (Revised) | Percent Change |
Northeast | 36,414 | 30,171 | 20.7 |
South Atlantic | 56,989 | 47,214 | 20.7 |
North Central | 56,824 | 48,959 | 16.1 |
South Gulf | 53,080 | 44,993 | 18 |
West | 58,365 | 49,801 | 17.2 |
Total | 261,672 | 221,138 | 18.3 |
Year-over-year figures:
Region | March 2015 (in millions) | March 2014 (in millions) | Percent Change |
Northeast | 36,414 | 35,936 | 1.3 |
South Atlantic | 56,989 | 54,275 | 5 |
North Central | 56,824 | 54,298 | 4.7 |
South Gulf | 53,080 | 51,950 | 2.2 |
West | 58,365 | 55,410 | 5.3 |
Total | 261,672 | 251,870 | 3.9 |