Our Nation's Highways: 2008

Figure 2-4. Vehicle Miles Traveled on Rural and Urban Public Roads, 1960-2006

Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is one of the most widely used measures of travel intensity. For a given segment of roadway, the VMT is obtained by multiplying AADT by the length of the roadway segment. For example, on a 5-mile highway segment traveled by 5,000 vehicles daily (an average obtained over a year), the VMT would be 25,000. VMT is a measure of total vehicle activity.

Data represented in the inset chart
Table in Excel format

Data Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Highway Policy Information, Highway Statistics.