Data from the Federal Highway Administration shows Americans drove 5.8 billion vehicle miles or 2.5 percent more miles in September than they did during the corresponding month a year ago.

The FHA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, reported that U.S. drivers traveled an estimated 240.7 billion miles in September. This total includes 83.9 billion vehicle miles on rural roads and 156.8 billion miles on urban roads and streets.

Cumulative travel for the year is estimated at 2,208.5 billion VMT, an increase of 6.7 billion miles or 0.3 percent from the comparable 2008 period.

In the North-East region of the U.S., total miles traveled during the month reviewed climbed 1.8 percent from a year ago to 38.0 billion miles. In the South-Atlantic, VMT totaled 49.8 billion miles, an increase of 2.7 percent from September 2008, while VMT in the West rose 2.7 percent on the year to 50.4 billion miles. The North-Central region posted an increase of 2.3 percent in VMT from a year ago to 55.3 billion miles and the South-Gulf region posted a 2.7 percent increase in VMT from a year ago to 47.1 billion miles.