U.S. Vehicle Miles Traveled Sets New Monthly Record. Yet Again.

Yet another milestone! The U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) latest highway mobility statistics would almost be old news—except that, with a new Administration preparing to take the reins in Washington, DC, the numbers could not be more perfectly timed.

Just seven weeks ago, we blogged on FHWA’s finding that a record 217.9 million Americans had driver’s licenses in 2015. That number represented a 1.8% increase in the number of drivers on the road.

This week, the other half of the story dropped, with FHWA reporting that U.S. drivers logged a mind-boggling 265.5 billion miles in September 2016, and more than 2.4 trillion vehicle miles traveled in the first nine months of the year.

The September figure represented a 2.4% increase over the same month last year. The seasonally-adjusted total of 268.7 billion miles represented 0.4% growth over August—which may not sound like much, but still means an extra billion miles of wear and tear on America’s roads, bridges and tunnels in just one month.

Just by showing any growth at all, the September figures extended a string of monthly increases dating back to April 2014.

Same Story, New Context

There’s been a big change in the weeks between the two releases: U.S. voters have elected Donald Trump as President-Elect, who promised a $1-trillion infrastructure package over ten years, possibly funded in large part by the private sector. If public-private partnerships are about to play a more prominent role in the federal highway system, tolling is one of the most obvious, proven and powerful tools for helping big infrastructure deals succeed.

The new Administration is already hearing some familiar arguments against the kind of partnerships that will be essential to clear a daunting highway infrastructure funding gap. That makes IBTTA’s takeaways from the earlier FHWA release as relevant now as they were then.

In mid-October, we wrote:

The numbers add to the mountain of statistics that show the importance of user financing as a key tool in the transportation infrastructure funding toolbox, now and in the future.

For today, with growing demand on a system that is already stretched beyond its limits, tolling and mileage-based usage fees can deliver the cash infusion highways need to begin reversing decades of under investment in our infrastructure.

For tomorrow, as the driving population continues to age, tolling agencies are at the center of the conversation around connected and autonomous vehicles that will eventually help more people hold onto their vehicle privileges later in life.

An Opportunity for the New Administration

The new Administration already knows that voters won’t support higher taxes to pay for highway repairs or construction. But the tolling industry’s front-line experience tells the rest of the story: the public will broadly support tolling and other user financing options if funds are dedicated to those projects and they see the benefits on the roads they drive.

That simple, essential observation opens-up ground for a powerfully productive partnership between state and regional governments and the new federal Administration. And for the possibility that an ambitious new federal infrastructure policy will herald a golden age in highway funding and finance.

For more on highway infrastructure funding options, download the summary of IBTTA’s 2016 Transportation Policy & Finance Summit, March 13-15, 2016 in Washington, DC.  And, save the date for IBTTA’s 2017 Summit on Finance, Policy and Vehicles Miles Travelled, April 23-25, 2017.