Recent Streetsblog USA posts about VMT

For Eighth Year in a Row, the Average American Drove Fewer Miles in 2012

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 27, 2013 | 10 Comments

For decades — through the rise of the two-car household, women entering the workforce, the growth of the exurbs — Americans reliably put more miles on their cars every year. But no longer. Last year, for the eighth year in a row, vehicle miles traveled ticked down on a per-capita basis. The average American drove […]

NSC: 36,200 Americans Killed in Traffic in 2012, First Increase in 7 Years

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 21, 2013 | 3 Comments

After seven years of declines, traffic deaths in America rose again in 2012, according to a preliminary estimate by the National Safety Council. An estimated 36,200 people were killed in traffic collisions last year — a five percent increase over 2011, according to the NSC. In 2011, 34,600 people were killed on American roads. Traffic injuries increased […]

Quick Hits From U.S. DOT’s TRB Panel

By Tanya Snyder | Feb 1, 2013 | No Comments

We’ve had a busy two weeks since the Transportation Research Board conference, and one thing that’s slipped through the cracks is passing on a few tidbits that came at the end of the TRB panel of U.S. DOT officials on January 16. First, in response to my question about whether the dip in vehicle-miles-traveled had […]

GAO: Mileage Fee Could Be More “Equitable and Efficient” Than Gas Tax

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 14, 2013 | 25 Comments

While governors debate raising (or eliminating) their states’ gas taxes, buzz is building about mileage-based fees, or a vehicle-miles-traveled charge. A House provision to ban U.S. DOT from studying such a fee has gone away (along with its sponsor), while Rep. Earl Blumenauer is trying to get the Treasury Department to look into how it could […]

Study: Shorter Blocks May Be the Key to Cutting Traffic in Small Cities

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 7, 2013 | 4 Comments

It’s well-established that density and mixed-use development reduce driving. Right? But strategies like those don’t work the same way everywhere, according to new research published in the Journal of Transport and Land Use. While in major cities, denser development is linked to lower rates of driving, researchers found that in smaller cities it might not […]

Blumenauer: Let’s Stop Hiding in Fear of a Mileage Fee

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 17, 2012 | 22 Comments

In June, the House of Representatives voted to ban U.S. DOT from even studying the viability of switching from the gas tax to a vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fee. But the tide may be turning: The sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Chip Cravaack, has been ousted from Congress, the amendment itself is on the skids, and a new […]

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