New York (Platts)--12Dec2008

Total automobile travel in the US in October declined 3.5% from October
2008, or 9 billion vehicle miles, according to the Federal Highway
Administration.

The changes included a 2.3% drop in the northeast US, the smallest
regional decline, and a 5% decline in the south Atlantic region.

Although the FHA release did not mention it, October driving in that
region may have been impacted by gasoline supply problems lingering from
Hurricane Ike.

The year-on-year monthly decline actually was smaller than the prior two
months. That trend would mirror other statistics, such as the MasterCard
weekly report, which shows the rate of decline in gasoline consumption getting
smaller as retail gasoline prices decline. The 3.5% decline year-on-year
compares with 4.7% in September, while in August it was 5.6%. The monthly
percentage decline was the smallest since a 1.6% decline recorded in April.

According to the report, total mileage declined to 249.7 billion miles
traveled, from 258.7 billion miles.

The cumulative year-on-year travel through October was also down 3.5%, to
2,425.7 billion miles from 2,514.9 billion miles.