Vehicle Travel Continues to Drop; February 2010 Down 2.9 Percent from Previous Year

Vehicle Travel Continues to Drop; February 2010 Down 2.9 Percent from Previous Year
April 26, 2010

Vehicle Miles Driven by Region (in millions)
	February 2009	February 2010	Percent Change
Northeast	32,361	30,692	-5.2
South Atlantic	47,148	44,986	-4.6
North Central	48,480	46,683	-3.7
South Gulf	44,695	43,602	-2.4
West	46,523	46,934	+0.9
Total	219,208	212,897	-2.9

Despite a continual increase over the latter months of 2009 and even early 2010, vehicle travel decreased in February 2010-down 2.9 percent from the previous year, according to the latest report from the Federal Highway Administration (FHA). The FHA, a division of the Department of Transportation, estimates that 212.9 billion vehicle miles were driven during the month of February, compared with 219.2 billion vehicle miles traveled in February 2009.

This continues a trend that begin in January, which saw a 1.6 percent decrease in vehicle miles driven when compared with the previous year. The FHA tracks both monthly travel on U.S. roadways, along with cumulative travel throughout the year.

Cumulative travel as of February 2010 also was down from the previous year. By the end of February 2009, 445.5 billion vehicle miles had been traveled on the nation's roadways, compared with 435.4 billion vehicle miles traveled by the end of February 2010-a 2.3 percent drop.

Regionally, vehicle traffic was down for all regions except the Western Region (see chart at right).

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