Recent Streetsblog USA posts about VMT

SSTI to Transport Officials: Start Planning for a Future With Less Driving

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 2, 2013 | 8 Comments

For a long time in the United States, driving activity moved in step with the economy. Since economic growth was fairly steady, consistent growth in driving was built into all the traffic modeling the engineers used to plan and build streets and transportation infrastructure. But now per capita driving has declined eight straight years in America. Total […]

Ten Questions (and Answers) About Oregon’s New VMT Charge

By Tanya Snyder | Sep 24, 2013 | 13 Comments

This summer, Oregon’s legislature passed a bill creating a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. For those who recognize the shortcomings of the gas tax for charging for road use, it was a big victory. But the program authorized by the state is a modest one, creating a voluntary program for just 5,000 drivers of high-efficiency vehicles. ODOT’s Jim […]

Old Solutions: U.S. DOT’s Proposed Strategic Plan Falls Short

By Andy Clarke | Sep 6, 2013 | 4 Comments

Andy Clarke is the president of the League of American Bicyclists. This article originally appeared on the League’s blog. On Tuesday, August 27th the U.S. Department of Transportation released a draft strategic plan for public comment. The 94-page document lays out how the U.S. Department of Transportation proposes to manage our transportation system for the […]

More Evidence That Unemployment Doesn’t Explain the Decline in Driving

By Tanya Snyder | Aug 29, 2013 | 14 Comments

For those who say driving rates will pick right back up again when the economy’s really humming, here’s something to chew on: In a report released this morning, “Moving Off the Road,” U.S. PIRG presents further evidence that unemployment rates and driving rates have changed independently of each other. Transportation reformers have made the case that there […]

Even If the Trust Fund Were Flush, We Should Still Switch to a VMT Fee

By Noel Popwell | Aug 12, 2013 | 23 Comments

By now the problems with the gas tax are well reported. Revenues from the tax have been declining for years because of improved fuel economy and alternative-fuel vehicles. The result is a growing gap between the money needed to maintain and improve our transportation system and the money available in the Highway Trust Fund. The […]

With Less Driving, Can We Tone Down the Hysteria About Congestion?

By Tanya Snyder | May 17, 2013 | 1 Comment

There’s so much to unpack in the landmark report released by U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group earlier this week on transportation trends. Tuesday, we focused on the disparity between government transportation forecasts and recent realities. We also took a look at a few reasons to believe that the millennial generation – those aged 13 […]

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