Americans drive less despite easing gasoline prices

WASHINGTON: Americans reduced driving by some 3.5 per cent in October compared with a year ago despite easing fuel prices, the US government said Friday.

In its monthly report on traffic volume trends, the Transportation Department also said that Americans cut driving by some 160 billion kilometers (100 billion miles) between November 2007 and October 2008 than the same period a year earlier.

"Americans drove 3.5 per cent less, or 8.9 billion fewer vehicle miles (14 billion kilometers) traveled, in October 2008 than October 2007," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in a statement.

It showed "the sharpest decline of any October since 1971," she said.

For the second month in a row, the data showed that the South Atlantic region, a bloc of eight states and Washington, DC, experienced the biggest decline of any region -- 5.0 per cent fewer miles traveled compared to the previous October.

Peters also questioned the viability of a so called Highway Trust Fund, the federal government's primary source for financing highway, bridge and transit projects.

It is primarily funded through federal gas tax receipts, which dropped by three billions dollars to 31 billion dollars between October 2007 and September 2008 from a year ago.

Federal transportation spending, on the other hand, increased by two billions dollars over the same period.

"As driving decreases and vehicle fuel efficiency continues to improve, the long term viability of the Highway Trust Fund grows weaker," Peters said.

"The fact that the trend persists even as gas prices are dropping confirms that America's travel habits are fundamentally changing," she said, calling for a revamp in strategy to finance America's transportation network.