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

Vehicle Technologies Office

Fact #616: March 29, 2010
Household Vehicle-Miles of Travel by Trip Purpose

In 2009, getting to and from work accounted for about 27% of household vehicle-miles of travel (VMT). Work-related business was 8.4% of VMT in 2001, but declined to 6.7% in 2009, possibly due to advancements in computing technology making it possible for more business to be handled electronically. VMT for shopping was almost 16% of VMT, up about 1% from the 2001 level.

Share of Household Trip VMT by Purpose
Graph showing the share of vehicle miles of travel in 2001 and 2009 for trips to and from work, work-related business, shopping, other family/personal business, school/church, medical/dental, vacation, visit friends/relatives, other social/recreational, and other. For more detailed information, see supporting information below.

Supporting Information

Share of Vehicle Miles of Travel by Trip Purpose, 2001 and 2009 NHTS
Trip Purpose Shares of vehicle-miles traveled
2001 2009
To/from work 27.0% 27.5%
Work-related business 8.4% 6.7%
Shopping 14.5% 15.8%
Other family/personal business 18.7% 15.7%
School/church 3.7% 4.4%
Medical/dental 2.2% 2.7%
Vacation 1.8% 2.2%
Visit friends/relatives 9.4% 10.7%
Other social/recreational 13.2% 13.7%
Other 1.0% 0.5%
All 100.0% 100.0%

Source: Generated from the National Household Travel Survey website.

 

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