Travel demand in America, which fell off the cliff during the recession, has come roaring back, with positive implications for the highway trust fund, toll road revenues, and funding of major projects, especially if growth trends can be predicted.

After the longest decline in history, FHWA’s April Travel Volume Trends report shows some big gains: vehicle miles travelled (VMT) nationally set an absolute growth record both this April and in April, 2014, and the moving 12-month average in April was over 3 trillion VMT on all roads, slightly higher than the 2008 peak.