Vermont among states with top cutbacks in highway miles driven

New statistics show that Vermonters have cut back on driving by more than any other state but one.

The Federal Highway Administration says American motorists drove 10.7 billion fewer miles in September than they did for the same month last year. That's a decline of 4.4 percent.

In Vermont, the number of highway miles driven for the month was down 7.9 percent. Only South Carolina was down more, at 8.4 percent. Maine was third at 7.5 percent.

New Hampshire was down 6.7 percent.

Maine Deputy Transportation Commissioner Greg Nadeu says the decline in the northern New England states is probably greater than the nation as a whole because the region is rural and people are more reliant on their cars to get places.