Americans Are Driving Less, Report Says

The distance Americans drove annually fell between 2004 and 2012, a fact that should affect the way policymakers allocate money for transportation, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund said.

The Aug. 29 report by PIRG, consumer-oriented nonprofit, analyzed Federal Highway Administration traffic data released the same week that said between 2004 and 2012 the average miles driven per person fell to 820 from 900.

The U.S. Travel Association, however, released its own report saying that without new investment in highways, the kind of traffic congestion Americans see on Labor Day weekend will become a daily event.

That report was released the same day at PIRG’s and based on an analysis that the Travel Association commissioned from the consulting firm Cambridge Systematics Inc.

Regardless of whether individual Americans are driving less, highway investment is still a critical need, said Darrin Roth, director of highway operations for American Trucking Associations.

There may be a “slowdown” in the growth rate of driving, Roth said, “but that doesn’t mean that the highways that are congested today are likely to be less congested tomorrow. You’re still going to have to add highway capacity.”

Population will grow and freight traffic will continue rising, Roth said.

“We are projected to increase tonnage from 2012 to 2014 by 26%,” he added. “In 2012 we hauled 9.4 billion tons of freight and in 2024 we’re projected to haul 11.5 billion tons.”