The Highway Trust Fund collected $3 billion less in FY 2008 as Americans drove 90 billion fewer miles over 11 months of the same fiscal year, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced on Nov. 19. The trend underscores the need to find a new way to finance transportation projects in America, she added. The secretary noted that Americans drove 4.4 percent less, or 10.7 billion fewer miles, in September 2008 than September 2007, the 11th straight month of declining driving. The trend is most evident in rural interstate travel, which fell by 8 percent that month, while urban interstate travel declined by 3.9 percent. As a result of the continued decline in vehicle miles traveled, the Highway Trust Fund, which is primarily funded through federal gas tax receipts, collected $31 billion in revenue between October 2007 and September 2008 – $3 billion less than it collected the previous year, while federal transportation spending increased by $2 billion. The secretary noted that, if vehicle miles traveled continues to decline, the Highway Trust Fund may experience another shortfall sooner than expected.