Travel Continued to Rise in May

Travel Continued to Rise in May
July 24, 2009

Travel on all roads and streets throughout the United States was up 0.1 percent in May 2009—an increase of .2 billion vehicle miles from May 2008, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHA). This is the second month in a row the FHA has reported increases in the number of miles driven.

Total travel for the month of May 2009 is estimated at 257.3 billion vehicle miles.

Travel also increased in the North-Central, South-Gulf and West regions, though both the Northeast and South-Atlantic regions saw a slight drop-off from May 2008.

Estimated Miles Driven by Region	Total Miles Traveled in May 2008	Total Miles Traveled in May 2009	Percent Change
Northeast	38,556	38,539	-0.0
South-Atlantic	54,681	53,892	-1.4
North-Central	57,978	58,430	+0.8
South-Gulf	50,446	50,566	+0.2
West	55,471	55,883	+0.7
Total	257,135	257,311	+0.1

*All figures are in millions except for totals.

Cumulative travel—the number of miles driven since the onset of the year—continues to remain down. At the end of May 2009, 1,200.4 billion cumulative vehicle miles had been driven, compared with 1,190.5 by the end of May 2008—a .8 percent drop.

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