The Federal Highway Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), recently released estimates demonstrating that U.S. drivers have broken records in the first five months of 2015.
The original record for most highway miles logged was 1.23 trillion miles in the first five months of 2007. The new record stands at 1.26 trillion miles. This also marks the 15th month in a row that the U.S. has shown increased driving rates.
The report, titled “Traffic Volume Trends,” gives readers a monthly estimate of road travel in the U.S. The report shows that in May 2015, drivers traveled 275.2 billion miles. This is the most that has ever been driven in May of any year that the data has been kept.
May 2015 is analyzed using seasonally adjusted data. This allows vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) comparisons with other months in the year, all of which are recorded at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. May’s seasonally adjusted VMT stands at 262.1 billion miles, which is a rise of 3.4 percent, or 8.7 billion miles, when compared to May 2014.
The ongoing rise in driving rates demonstrates that it is vital that transportation infrastructure be a top priority for U.S. leaders. The current extension of transportation funds is due to expire by July 31.
