by Calculated Risk on 12/20/2010 11:28:00 AM

The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported that vehicle miles driven in October were up 1.9% compared to October 2009:

Travel on all roads and streets changed by +1.9% (4.9 billion vehicle miles) for October 2010 as compared with October 2009. Travel for the month is estimated to be 259.5 billion vehicle miles.

Cumulative Travel for 2010 changed by +0.6% (16.0 billion vehicle miles).

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the rolling 12 month total vehicle miles driven.

On a rolling 12 month basis, vehicle miles driven have only increased 1.2% from the bottom of the recession.

Miles driven are still 1.4% below the peak in 2007. This is another indicator of a sluggish recovery.

Note: in the early '80s, miles driven (rolling 12 months) stayed below the previous peak for 39 months. Currently miles driven has been below the previous peak for 35 months - another record that will be broken soon.