RESIDENTS ARE DRIVING MORE AGAIN
Why Is This Important?
Choices in transportation impact the quality of air and transportation infrastructure. By encouraging alternative modes of transportation, such as public transit, carpooling and walking, as well as promoting vehicles with higher fuel efficiency and the use of alternative fuel sources, communities reduce their ecological footprint and improve the quality of their environment. Beyond government incentives, changes in transportation habits are largely driven by fluctuations in gas prices. As gas prices rise, people reconsider their trips and travel fewer miles. Maintaining transportation infrastructure as the region expands and develops is crucial to ensuring the efficient movement of goods and people. Projects for infrastructure rehabilitation and improvements are taking place in the county with projects such as new HOV lanes and a ramp-metering project. Improving the transportation linkages between the county’s assets such as Travis AFB, port of Benicia, Mare Island and Rio Vista in addition to other infrastructure improvements such as water and sewer, will support the county’s continued growth.
How Are We Doing?
In the past year, vehicle miles of travel (VMT) per capita increased as gas prices declined - an expected inverse relationship. From 2008 to 2009,VMT in Solano County jumped 5 percent while California gas prices declined 23 percent. This accounts for the region’s largest year-to-year jump in VMT per capita since 1997. Over the long term, VMT grew 8 percent, while gas prices increased 54 percent from 1995 to 2009.