Paying More, Driving Less

Paying More, Driving Less

Americans are driving less as they pay more at the pump. The Transportation Department says the estimated vehicle miles traveled on U.S. roads in March fell by 11 billion miles — 4.3 percent — from the same month a year ago.

It is the first March decline since 1979 and the sharpest drop for any month since the government started tracking mileage in 1942.

The DOT data covers all types of motor vehicles, and shows a cumulative decline of 17.3 billion miles driven since November 2006. Total vehicle miles traveled in 2006 — the most recent year for which data is available — topped 3 trillion miles.

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