WASHINGTON -- U.S. motorists drove 746 billion miles in first-quarter 2016, shattering a previous record of 720.1 billion miles set in 2015.
According to the latest “Traffic Volume Trends” report from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for March hit 273.4 billion miles. This includes passenger vehicle, bus and truck travel.
For perspective, this is about 286.9 times farther than the International Space Station (ISS) has traveled since it went into space in 1998. Even more impressive: On any given day before noon, U.S. motorists have already driven twice as far as the ISS has flown in its 18 years in orbit.
According to seasonally adjusted data, which removes seasonal travel variations, miles traveled in March hit 268.2 billion miles. This is not only 4% higher than a year ago but also a monthly record for seasonally adjusted VMT. It is a 0.7% increase from seasonally adjusted February numbers.
On a regional basis, drivers in the Northeast, which includes nine states from Maine to Pennsylvania, led in unadjusted VMT growth, up 6.4% from the year prior. This also continues the region’s string of consecutive monthly increases, which dates back to November 2014. The South Atlantic—eight states from Florida to Delaware, and D.C.—had the next highest rate of VMT growth, up 5.7%. The Western region, which includes 13 states from Alaska to Hawaii, saw the smallest increase in unadjusted VMT for March at 4%.
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