For the first time in decades, Americans are driving less—and Wyomingites are no exception. Driving in the state is down 12 percent from its peak in 2003, according to a new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
At more than 16,000 miles per person per year, Wyoming drivers still log more time on the road than residents of any other state, but the cutback in driving is helping close the gap, according to Phineas Baxandall, who did the analysis.
"It’s a big driving state," he says. "But at the same time, it’s a state which is cutting back on its driving at about twice the national average rate of the general decline in driving.”
Baxandall couldn't pinpoint a reason for Wyoming's high driving rate, or the decline, but nationally, millennials play the biggest role, having cut back on driving by almost a quarter.