U.S. vehicle ownership, miles driven continue to rise: report

CHICAGO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Ownership of cars and light trucks in the U.S. are on the upswing, a University of Michigan (UM) report said Tuesday.

In his 10th report in a series examining changes in various aspects of motorization in the U.S. since 1984, Michael Sivak of the UM Transportation Research Institute found that light vehicle ownership rates per person and per household are at the highest levels since 2008 and 2009, respectively.

The ownership rate per person for 2016, the year with the latest available data, is 0.766, while the rate per household is 1.968. Per-person rates have increased for four straight years and household rates have gone up for 3 consecutive years, according to the report.

Nevertheless, both rates are below their peak in 2006, down 2.5 percent per person and 4 percent per household.

Sivak also examined annual distances driven per person and per household for 2016 at 8,819 miles (14,193 kilometers) and 22,649 miles (36,450 kilometers), respectively.

Both rates peaked in 2004, and the two rates in 2016 are down 5.3 percent and 7 percent, respectively, from their maximum levels, despite the fact that they have risen for three years in a row by 2016.

Sivak's report used data from the Federal Highway Administration, ProQuest and the U.S. Census Bureau. Enditem