New information released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a branch of the United States Department of Transportation, proves that U.S. driving rates have broken records for the first six months of 2015.
Between Jan. 2015 and June 2015, U.S. driving exceeded 1.54 trillion miles. This beats the previous record that stood at 1.5 trillion miles from June 2007. These figures show that U.S. drivers are now traveling over twice as much as drivers in the first six months of 1981. This shows an ongoing trend that U.S. driving mileage doubles almost every generation.
The report, titled “Traffic Volume Trends,” is a monthly estimate of road travel within the U.S. It explains that 275.13 billion miles were traveled in June 2015, which is more than any other June from any other year. These mark the highest VMT for the first six months in history.
Using data from the FHWA’s report, experts say that this is the 16th consecutive month that U.S. driving has shown an increase.
These figures underscore the important of investing in transportation infrastructure. The U.S. will continue to require growth in its highway system to keep up with its traffic flow. Leaders across the nation are urging Congress to consider long-term infrastructure solutions.
