United States Driving Levels
U.S. Driving in April Surpasses Pre-Recession Levels
For the first time since the recession began, monthly driving exceeds 2007 levels.
The latest government figures show that U.S. road traffic continued to increase in April bringing the number of total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to within 98 percent of the record highs reached prior to the beginning of the recession, based on a 12-month moving average. But the real story is that the total number of miles driven in the US during the month of April 2010 rose 3.1 billion miles, or 1.2 percent compared to April 2009, and that puts the April 2010 total well above the pre-recession levels reached in 2007 during the month of April. Total VMT for April 2010 is estimated to be 255.9 billion miles according to the Federal Highway Administration, and that’s 3.5 billion miles more than the 252.4 billion vehicle miles traveled in April 2007. Since the driving recession began, a few individual months have come close to their pre-recession levels (including April 2009), but none have surpassed it until now.United States Driving Levels
The cumulative total driving for the year now totals 945.8 billion vehicle miles traveled (VMT), still trailing last year by 1.6 billion VMT or 0.2 percent. This is a positive result and builds on the gains we saw in March. Considering the February drop of 2.9 percent, likely caused by “snowmageddon,” there were quite a few miles to make up in order to once again overtake the 2009 year to date levels. On a regional basis, driving increased in every sector across the country, with the North Central region leading the way with a gain of 2.2 percent over the same month last year. The South Gulf region was up 1.7 percent and the Northeast dove 1.1 percent more. The South Atlantic and West each saw modest improvements of 0.8 and 0.3 percent respectively. The West region was hurt by a 0.5 percent drop in California. The state was one of only seven states that saw a year over a year driving decline in April. The other decliners were Nevada (-1.7%) Oregon (-1.2%) Massachusetts (-0.7%) New Hampshire (-0.6%) Georgia (-0.4%) and Michigan (-0.1%). According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the retail price of regular unleaded gasoline rose during the recording period from $2.77 in March to an average price of $2.85 per gallon in April, a 2.74 percent increase. In the coming months, moderating gasoline prices should only help driving gains during the summer driving season.Give us a call to make an appointment 602-253-1630, or Request a FREE estimate.