Driving Decline Screeches to a Halt

Spiking gas prices in 2008 coupled with the following recession led to a historic drop in driving and traffic congestion, but that may have ended now, according to a new study.

INRIX issued its 2009 National Traffic Scorecard, which found that driving increased by 0.3% in September, 0.2% in October, 0.3% in November and 0.2% in December over 12-month averages compared with the same period a year earlier.

This is likely due to a rebounding economy. Traffic remains two-thirds of the peak levels it hit in 2007, but as the recovery continues to slowly take hold, congestion will rise, the study says. Less clear is if this rebound in traffic will grow as rapidly as it did over the previous decade, which saw a 21% increase in miles driven from 1995 to 2007.

INRIX uses data from 1.7 million GPS-equipped vehicles for its studies, supplementing its findings with data on miles traveled from the Federal Highway Administration.

The driving decline of 2007-2009 also led to a sharp decline in traffic deaths, but a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association says the number of deaths will not rebound even if old traffic levels do.

U.S. Driving Decline Is in Reverse (USA Today)