by Calculated Risk on 12/20/2010 11:28:00 AM
Monday, December 20, 2010
DOT: Vehicle miles driven increased in October
The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported that vehicle miles driven in October were up 1.9% compared to October 2009:
Travel on all roads and streets changed by +1.9% (4.9 billion vehicle miles) for October 2010 as compared with October 2009. Travel for the month is estimated to be 259.5 billion vehicle miles.
Cumulative Travel for 2010 changed by +0.6% (16.0 billion vehicle miles).
![Vehicle Miles](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44YBQnigIdCF9Xx7x7nL4VaM78MhAxLdxB1EjK-2pO4YwzoTAQZ6lvGl_2iPTKBvHWeWcNIkDrbA7RlaAOppW4gMS3td3GHgW3cFj0auemx3V4G-iuxOxuXjm2XRCoEL0mybX/s320/VehicleMilesOct2010.jpg)
This graph shows the rolling 12 month total vehicle miles driven.
On a rolling 12 month basis, vehicle miles driven have only increased 1.2% from the bottom of the recession.
Miles driven are still 1.4% below the peak in 2007. This is another indicator of a sluggish recovery.
Note: in the early '80s, miles driven (rolling 12 months) stayed below the previous peak for 39 months. Currently miles driven has been below the previous peak for 35 months - another record that will be broken soon.