Missouri Bicycle News Article

As we have previously reported, Americans have been driving fewer miles each month since about last November. This is an amazing turnaround of a long term trend--the amount of miles driven by Americans has been increasing at a steady rate since about 1981.

Previously, even a slowdown in the increase of miles driven was seen as significant. An actual decrease in miles driven is nothing short of a tectonic shift.

And in June 2008, Americans drove 12 billion miles fewer than they did the previous June--meaning the decrease in miles driven is continuing to accelerate.

In Missouri, miles driven was down 3.9% in May and 4.8% in June.

The consequences of this change are many--ranging from decreased income from fuel taxes, which will make it difficult to pay for road projects, to greater use of transit, better air quality, and decreased greenhouse gas emissions resulting from fewer gallons of gas burned.

But for walking and bicycling, the consequences are even larger.

That's because when driving decreases, walking, bicycling, and transit take up much of the slack.

And it only takes a small percentage decrease in the amount of driving to cause a large increase in the amount of walking and bicycling.

The 5% reduction in driving would (if all those driving trips were translated to walking or bicycling trips) mean about a 100% increase in walking and bicycling in Missouri.

So--note to public works departments across Missouri: Walking and bicycling are increasing dramatically. You'd better start thinking about the steps it will take to accommodate it safely.

A good place to start would be by looking at the recommendations in MoBikeFed's Vision for Active Transportation in Missouri.

From the Kansas City Star about the reduction in miles driven:

The summer vacation season began this year with Americans behind the wheel less. In all, we drove 12.2 billion fewer miles in June than a year earlier, the biggest monthly decrease in a downward trend that began in November.

That decrease, reported by the Federal Highway Administration, coincided with the national average price for unleaded gasoline hitting $4 a gallon for the first time on June 8. It peaked in mid-July at $4.11 and was down to $3.78 on Wednesday, according to AAA.

"Clearly, more Americans chose to stay close to home in June than in previous years," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Wednesday.

Overall, Americans drove 53.2 billion fewer miles from November through June than they did over the same eight-month period a year earlier, according to the highway agency's latest monthly report on driving. That's a larger decline than the 49.3 billion fewer miles driven by Americans over the entire decade of the 1970s, a period marked by oil embargoes and gas lines, the agency said.

Related:

News: Local planning organizations make bike/ped-friendly streets better than state DOTs

News: MoBikeFed at the National Bike Summit--Day 1 highlights

News: Kansas City to do bike/ped counts in October

Tips&Stories: Kansas City's Cliff Drive car-free weekends launched

News: Kansas City adopts groundbreaking Climate Protection Plan with bike/ped elements