U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Vehicle Technologies Program
Fact #469: May 14, 2007
Growth in Per Capita Rates for Vehicles and Vehicle-Miles
The number of vehicle-miles per capita has grown faster than the number of vehicles per capita from 1950 to 2005. From 3,029 miles per capita in 1950, the number of vehicle-miles driven per capita has increased to 10,087 miles. Vehicles per capita increased from 0.286 to 0.802 in the same period.
Vehicles and Vehicle-Miles per Capita 
Supporting Information
Vehicles Per Capita and Vehicle Miles Per Capita, 1950-2005
| Year |
Vehicles Per Capita |
Vehicle-Miles Per Capita |
| 1950 |
0.286 |
3,029 |
| 1955 |
0.338 |
3,656 |
| 1960 |
0.370 |
3,994 |
| 1965 |
0.424 |
4,587 |
| 1970 |
0.481 |
5,440 |
| 1975 |
0.560 |
6,191 |
| 1980 |
0.615 |
6,722 |
| 1985 |
0.660 |
7,460 |
| 1990 |
0.718 |
8,590 |
| 1995 |
0.726 |
9,098 |
| 2000 |
0.756 |
9,734 |
| 2005 |
0.802 |
10,087 |
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Source: Resident population – U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, The 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States, Washington, D.C. 2007, pp. 373.
Vehicles – R.L. Polk and Company, 2006.
Vehicle Miles – U.S. Department of Transportation, Highway Statistics 2005, Washington, D.C. 2006, Table VM-1, p. 57, an annual. |
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