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FHWA Home / Policy & Governmental Affairs / Highway Policy Information / Traffic Volume Trends / Travel Trends - March 2018

March 2018 Traffic Volume Trends

Travel Trends (March 2018)

Based on preliminary reports from the State Highway Agencies, travel during March 2018 on all roads and streets in the nation changed by 0.5% (1.4 billion vehicle miles) resulting in estimated travel for the month at 268.7** billion vehicle-miles.

This total includes 78.7 billion vehicle-miles on rural roads and 190.0 billion vehicle-miles on urban roads and streets.

Cumulative Travel changed by 0.3% (2.5 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 1993 are also included.

Travel in Millions of Vehicle Miles All Roads and Streets
Year March Year to
Date
Moving
12-Month
1993 187,869 522,393 2,257,911
1994 196,190 531,948 2,306,260
1995 201,227 566,118 2,391,757
1996 204,172 564,198 2,420,856
1997 211,952 586,028 2,504,031
1998 214,222 598,259 2,572,603
1999 220,763 605,830 2,632,934
2000 232,490 635,193 2,708,822
2001 232,587 643,149 2,754,882
2002 236,070 659,522 2,811,984
2003 236,679 658,890 2,854,878
2004 251,403 687,562 2,918,894
2005 253,182 697,225 2,974,451
2006 256,623 710,616 3,002,821
2007 259,638 712,492 3,015,992
2008 252,343 706,599 3,023,929
2009 249,741 692,914 2,959,824
2010 254,238 685,711 2,949,561
2011 253,124 690,378 2,971,933
2012 256,166 701,890 2,961,914
2013 253,026 698,248 2,964,927
2014 253,424 693,785 2,983,818
2015 258,017 708,735 3,040,606
2016 265,147 727,837 3,114,474
2017 267,357 738,887 3,185,458
2018 268,735 741,405 3,215,184

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.

 

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Page last modified on May 15, 2018
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000