This just in form the feds:

New data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that, since last November, Americans have driven 62.6 billion miles less than they did over the same nine-month period a year earlier.

Florida saw the biggest drop. To read the rest of the news release, click on

Americans drove 3.6 percent less, or 9.6 billion miles fewer, in July 2008 than July 2007. The decline is most evident in rural interstate travel, which has fallen by more than 4 percent — compared to the 2 percent decline in urban miles traveled — since the trend began last November.

Compared to July 2007, the Western region — a bloc of 13 states including Alaska and Hawaii — felt the biggest decline, 4.5 percent fewer vehicle miles traveled (VMT) compared to the previous July, of any region. Alaska, Oregon and Nevada each topped 7 percent fewer VMT that month, while the nation’s greatest single-state decline in July was Florida’s 8.6 percent.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) collects vehicle-miles-traveled data for all motor vehicles through more than 4,000 automatic traffic recorders operated round-the-clock by state highway agencies. For FHWA’s “Traffic Volume Trends” reports, including that of July 2008, visit http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tvtw/08jultvt/index.cfm

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