California Highways Busiest in 2011, FHWA Says
Motorists in California drove 84.7 billion miles in 2011, making it the busiest state that year in terms of vehicle mileage, the Federal Highway Administration said Monday.
U.S. motorists drove 2.95 trillion miles in 2011, making it the eighth-busiest year on record with nearly twice as many miles as 1980, the agency said. The data were gathered by FHWA’s Highway Performance Monitoring System, based on automated traffic recorders operated by state transportation departments.
“Better information means cities and states can more efficiently target congestion and help people get home from work faster,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement.
“Data like these help us better understand the highway system and its needs,” FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez said in the statement. “Analysis of the nation's traffic patterns and areas of changing traffic volume will lead to safer, less-congested roads and greater mobility for all Americans.”
California’s highways were almost as busy as the highest of the next two states — Texas and Florida, — combined. Texas had 55.7 billion miles, while Florida had 34.7 billion.
California also had the three busiest interstate highways in 2011, FHWA said. Interstate 5 in was the busiest, with 21.4 million miles, while interstates 10 and 110 were the second and third busiest.
