Frequently Asked Questions

• Motor Vehicle Registrations?
• Motor Fuel Useage and Taxation?
• Road Conditions, Length and Performance?
• State and Local Highway Finance?
• Driver Licensing?

Motor vehicle registration frequently asked questions:

Are historical motor-vehicle registration data available?

Yes. The Summary to Highway Statistics is done by the Office of Highway Policy Information every 10 years. The Highway Statistics Summary to 1995 is the most current report. In some instances, corrections or revisions have been made in previously published data, consequently the figures shown in Highway Statistics Summary to 1995 supersede those in previous Highway Statistics Summaries, as well as previous annual issues of the Highway Statistics Series.

Are county or Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) motor-vehicle registration data available?

No. The Office of Highway Policy only collects data at the State level. A suggested source would be the individual State DOTs.

Is there a breakout between private and commercial motor-vehicle registration data?

No. The States do not provide a segregation between the private and commercial motor-vehicle registration data.

Are new motor-vehicle registration data available?

No. The motor vehicle registration data consists of vehicles registered from January 1, to December 31 of a calendar year.

Motor Fuel Usage and Taxation:

What is the current Federal gasoline tax rate?

18.4 cents per gallon (gasoline)
24.4 cents per gallon (diesel)

How much fuel is consumed per year in the United States?

In 2002, gallons of fuel consumed were:

132,954,729 (Gasoline - highway use)
34,775,457(Special fuel - highway use)
167,730,186(Total fuel - highway use)
4,305,166(Non-highway use)

See Table MF-21 of the Highway Statistics for more.

Road Conditions, Length and Performance:

How many miles are traveled in the United States per year?

In 2004, approximately 3.0 trillion annual vehicle-miles were traveled in the United States. Over 64% of that travel occurred in urban areas.

What is the condition of highways, interstates, roads, etc. during inclement weather? Are the highways, etc. safe to use?

The Office of Highway Policy Information collects data on an annual basis, and not day to day information on road congestion, or inclement weather postings. The individual county and State and/or municipality has responsibility for these areas of activities. Weather related website can be found on the web for up-to-date roads conditions and weather reporting.

Are current traffic counts on Routes in my state or locality available?

No. Consolidation, distribution, and maintenance of individual traffic counts are outside the scope and beyond the resources available to the FHWA data collection programs. Virtually all travel data supplied to FHWA are collected by individual State highway agencies. These agencies are the best resources for site-specific data. The FHWA programs use sampling techniques which allow very precise estimates at the system level (i.e. rural interstates, urban minor arterials, etc). However, because the sampling process estimates an aggregationof elements, it is not suitable for approximation of site-specific elements. System level estimates are available in the Highway Statistics Series, specifically Tables VM-1 and VM-2, and in the Traffic Volume Trends monthly report.

State and Local Highway Finance:

What is the largest source (revenue item), and what is the largest useage (expenditure item) for local governments for highway purposes?

The largest source for local governments for highway purposes are Appropriations from General Funds. The latest available data for local highway finance data shows $13.7 billion of revenue in 2001 out of a total of $50.4 billion (See Table LGF-1 of the Highway Statistics 2002). The largest expenditure for local governments for highway purposes is "Maintenance". The latest available data for local highway expenditures show $15.3 billion in 2001, out of a total of $48.7 billion (see Table LGF-2 of the Highway Statistics 2002).

Driver Licensing:

How many teen drivers are there?

The first year the driver license data was broken out by age was in 1964; there were 7,874,993 licenses issued to driver under the age of 20 (see Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, Table DL-220). By 2004, there were 9,333,086 drivers under 20 years of age. (see Highway Statistics 2004, Table DL-20).

What criteria is used to determine which teen drivers are counted?

In order to establish a fair base for what constitutes an "unrestricted"licensed driver, we use the biennial report Driver License Administration Requirement and Fees. In 1990 (Highway Statistics 1989), a strict standard was established to determine the number of unrestricted drivers under the age of 16 on the road. This new rule stated that a driver must be able to driver inclusively between the hours of 5:00 A.M. and 12 Midnight without another licensed driver in the vehicle. Since this new standard cut the number of drivers from 1988 to 1995 approximately 60% in the under 16 category, one must keep this in mind when comparing the data from earlier years.

How many States issue unrestricted licenses to drivers under the age of 16?

In 2004, we had 5 States that issued unrestricted licenses to drivers under the age of 16. These states were: Hawaii, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota.