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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

U.S. HIGHWAY VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

U.S. HIGHWAY VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED

Highway Vehicle Miles Traveled (monthly data, with underlying trend)

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Highway Vehicle Miles Traveled (monthly data, with underlying trend). If you are a user with a disability and cannot view this image, please call 800-853-1351 or email answers@bts.gov for further assistance.

Vehicle miles of travel (VMT) are key data for highway planning and management, and a common measure of roadway use. Along with other data, VMT are often used in estimating congestion, air quality, and potential gas-tax revenues, and can provide a general measure of the level of the nation's economic activity.

Previous statistical analysis revealed an unexpected drop in the VMT data between August 2000 and October 2000. This drop proved to be significant, but temporary. So this temporary behavior is no longer represented in the underlying trend.

Vehicle Miles Traveled Dec-00 Dec-01
Millions of highway miles 218,672 227,837
Vehicle miles percent change from same month previous year   -1.26    4.19

NOTE: The current value is compared to the value from the same period in the previous year to account for seasonality.

A trendline has been provided for vehicle miles traveled. The trend has been calculated through a statistical procedure called Structural Modeling, in which the time series under study is decomposed into seasonal, trend and irregular components. For further information on this statistical procedure, see: S.J. Koopman, et al., Structural Time Series Analyser Modeller and Predictor (STAMP), London: Timberlake Consultants Ltd., 2000

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Highway Policy Information, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tvtw/tvtpage.htm.