U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Vehicle Technologies Office

Fact #429: June 19, 2006
Gross Domestic Product and Vehicle Travel: How Do They Relate?

The nation's highway vehicle miles of travel (VMT) and the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) reflect strikingly similar patterns, indicating the strong relationship between the nation's economy and its travel. Since the late 1990's, however, GDP appears to be growing at a faster rate than VMT. Many factors can affect VMT, including the price of gasoline and telecommuting trends.

Gross Domestic Product and Vehicle Miles of Travel Indexes, 1960-2005
Graph showing the strong relationship between the nation's economy (U.S. gross domestic product) and its travel (highway vehicle miles of travel). For more detailed information, see the table below.

Supporting Information

Gross Domestic Product and Vehicle Miles of Travel Indexes, 1960-2005
Year GDP in Constant
2000 Dollars,
Indexed to 1996		 VMT
Indexed to 1996
1960 30.0 28.9
1961 30.7 29.7
1962 32.6 30.8
1963 34.0 32.4
1964 36.0 34.0
1965 38.3 35.7
1966 40.8 37.2
1967 41.8 38.8
1968 43.9 40.9
1969 45.2 42.7
1970 45.3 44.6
1971 46.8 47.4
1972 49.3 50.7
1973 52.1 52.8
1974 51.9 51.5
1975 51.8 53.4
1976 54.5 56.4
1977 57.0 59.0
1978 60.2 62.1
1979 62.1 61.5
1980 62.0 61.4
1981 63.5 62.6
1982 62.3 64.2
1983 65.1 66.5
1984 69.8 69.2
1985 72.7 71.4
1986 75.2 73.8
1987 77.7 77.3
1988 81.0 81.5
1989 83.8 84.3
1990 85.4 86.3
1991 85.3 87.4
1992 88.1 90.4
1993 90.4 92.4
1994 94.1 94.8
1995 96.4 97.5
1996 100.0 100.0
1997 104.5 103.0
1998 108.9 105.9
1999 113.7 108.3
2000 117.9 110.5
2001 118.8 112.5
2002 120.6 114.9
2003 123.9 116.3
2004 129.1 119.2
2005* 133.7 119.4

* Preliminary data.
Source: Gross Domestic Product – Bureau of Economic Analysis, Vehicle Miles of Travel – Federal Highway Administration, "Highway Statistics 2004," and previous versions. 2005 preliminary data from "Traffic Volume Trends."

 

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