The first National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) of the 21st century shows that an average of 1.9 personal vehicles is owned or available to U.S. households — more than the 1.8 drivers per household.
As a joint project of DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the survey also says:
"This landmark travel survey documents a widespread prevalence of drivers and personal vehicles in the nation," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta said in a DOT press release. "At the same time, it underscores some of the challenges Americans face in their daily and long-distance travel - travel that is essential to quality of life and economic well-being. The Department of Transportation will continue to support the efforts of state and local decision-makers to develop solutions to these challenges."
NHTS, conducted in 2001 and 2002, gives a picture of travel in the U.S. at the start of the 21st century. Combining new long-distance travel information with short-distance data released earlier this year, it is the most comprehensive survey of travel in the United States in more than six years — offering information on who travels, why they travel, where they travel and how they travel.
The NHTS collected information about a wide range of topics, including the amount and purpose of travel, the uses of different travel modes, time and miles spent traveling and the ownership and use of vehicles in the United States. It also examines the relationships between travel and specific household and demographic characteristics. Over the next several months, BTS and FHWA will be releasing additional NHTS data on these and other areas.
For this survey, a nationally representative sample of about 26,000 households was contacted and 60,000 individuals were interviewed. The NHTS expands on and replaces the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey and 1995 American Travel Survey.
