U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000


Skip to content
Facebook iconYouTube iconTwitter iconFlickr iconLinkedInInstagram

Policy and Governmental Affairs
Office of Highway Policy Information

FHWA Home / Policy & Governmental Affairs / Highway Policy Information / Traffic Volume Trends / Travel Trends - December 2016

December 2016 Traffic Volume Trends

Travel Trends (December 2016)

Based on preliminary reports from the State Highway Agencies, travel during December 2016 on all roads and streets in the nation changed by 0.5% (1.3 billion vehicle miles) resulting in estimated travel for the month at 263.6** billion vehicle-miles.

This total includes 77.2 billion vehicle-miles on rural roads and 186.4 billion vehicle-miles on urban roads and streets.

Cumulative Travel changed by 2.8% (87.5 billion vehicle miles).

The larger changes to rural and urban travel are primarily because of the expansion in urban boundaries reflected in the 2000 census. Travel estimates for 2004 and beyond will also reflect this adjustment.

Travel for the current month, the cumulative yearly total, as well as the moving 12-month total on all roads and streets is shown below. Similar totals for each year since 1991 are also included.

Travel in Millions of Vehicle Miles All Roads and Streets
Year December Year to
Date
Moving
12-Month
1991 172,782 2,172,214 2,172,214
1992 180,999 2,247,152 2,247,152
1993 186,828 2,296,705 2,296,705
1994 193,087 2,357,587 2,357,587
1995 193,341 2,422,776 2,422,776
1996 201,462 2,482,201 2,482,201
1997 207,322 2,560,373 2,560,373
1998 216,303 2,625,363 2,625,363
1999 221,465 2,679,459 2,679,459
2000 218,390 2,746,926 2,746,926
2001 229,584 2,795,611 2,795,611
2002 234,260 2,855,509 2,855,509
2003 238,538 2,890,222 2,890,222
2004 245,029 2,964,789 2,964,789
2005 245,787 2,989,430 2,989,430
2006 248,208 3,014,371 3,014,371
2007 240,363 3,030,615 3,030,615
2008 242,231 2,981,806 2,981,806
2009 239,703 2,961,896 2,961,896
2010 240,998 2,969,720 2,969,720
2011 244,930 2,951,104 2,951,104
2012 238,715 2,968,248 2,968,248
2013 241,302 2,987,275 2,987,275
2014 252,394 3,025,265 3,025,265
2015 262,332 3,130,460 3,130,460
2016 263,641 3,217,956 3,217,956

Traffic Volume Trends is a monthly report based on hourly traffic count data. These data, collected at approximately 4,000 continuous traffic counting locations nationwide, are used to determine the percent change in traffic for the current month compared to the same month in the previous year. This percent change is applied to the travel for the same month of the previous year to obtain an estimate of travel for the current month. Because of the limited sample sizes, caution should be used with theses estimates. The highway Performance Monitoring System provides more accurate information on an anual basis.

** System entries may not add up to the give "All Systems" total due to rounding on pages 2 to 8.

 

< Previous Table of Contents Next >
Page last modified on February 10, 2017
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000