Americans set a new record for vehicle miles traveled in 2016, according to the Federal Highway Administration, with 3.2 trillion miles traveled during the year.American drivers traveled more than 3.2 trillion miles on public roads in 2016, the most ever in a year, according to estimates released this week by the Federal Highway Administration.
FHWA’s report says 2016 was the fifth straight year of increased mileage on public roads in the U.S. The year’s 3.2 trillion vehicle miles traveled is 87.5 billion more miles than were traveled in 2015, FHWA reports.
Broken down by month, July had the most miles traveled for the year with 286.2 billion, followed by August with 283.4 billion miles traveled. February and January had the fewest miles traveled during 2016 with 232.9 billion and 241.1 billion miles, respectively.
All months saw increases in miles traveled when compared to the same month in 2015, with the biggest increase coming in February of 6.1 percent from 219.5 billion miles in 2015 to 232.9 billion miles in 2016.
FHWA also estimates that of the 3.2 trillion miles traveled in 2016, 2.2 trillion of the miles were in urban areas, while 984.2 billion were in rural areas.
The agency’s estimates include truck, bus and passenger vehicle miles traveled, but the report doesn’t break down the miles traveled by vehicle type.
