U.S. highway travel declined in January for the 14th consecutive month, the U.S. Transportation Department said Thursday, as the weakening economy continued to affect driving habits. Highway travel was down 3.1 percent in January from a year ago, dropping 11.2 billion kilometers (7 billion miles) to 357.9 billion kilometers (222.4 billion miles). January was the 14th consecutive month of declining highway travel, with kilometers driven now down more than 196 billion (122 billion miles) since December 2007. January's decline in highway travel was nearly double the 1.6 percent decline and 6.1 billion fewer kilometers (3.8 billion miles) driven the previous month. The steeper drop in highway travel came as the U.S. economy weakened. An additional 655,000 workers lost their jobs in January, industrial output fell 1.9 percent in the month, and shipments of durable goods fell 4 percent, meaning there were fewer trucks transporting merchandise on highways.
