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Bus Profile

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Bus Profile

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Financial 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Expenditures ($ thousands)                    
School bus c486,000 c1,219,000 c3,833,000 c8,031,000 c7,847,000 c9,889,000 R,c9,082,000 c10,353,000 c10,326,000 c10,340,000
Operating revenues ($ thousands)                    
Intercity bus, class I d463,100 d721,700 d1,397,378 d943,268 R,e1,161,479 R,e1,189,235 R,e1,191,273 R,e1,080,083 R,e1,074,582 e1,326,909
Operating expenses ($ thousands)                    
Intercity bus, class I 405,400 639,000 1,318,372 1,026,213 R1,289,834 R1,253,537 R1,228,092 R1,022,680 R1,016,208 1,313,900

Inventory 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Number of operating companies                    
Intercity bus, class I 143 71 61 31 R26 R,e24 R,e20 R22 R,e20 e18
Number of vehicles                    
All buses f272,129 f377,562 f528,789 f626,987 f670,423 f685,503 f694,781 f697,548 f715,540 f728,777
Number of employees                    
Intercity and rural bus g40,500 g43,400 g37900 g26,100 h23,600 h23,800 h23,800 h22,200 h24,400 h23,800
School bus N N 79,900 111,200 125,900 131,100 132,200 136,500 141,000 146,100

Performance 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Vehicle-miles (millions)                    
All buses                    
Rural highway                    
Interstate rural N j339 j533 j567 j683 i711 i742 i794 i834 i971
Other arterial rural N 944 991 995 1,154 R1,171 R1,186 1,243 1,282 1,375
Other rural N 1,266 1,511 1,882 1,893 1,972 R2,005 2,072 2,135 2,322
All rural j2,332 2,549 3,035 3,444 3,730 R3,854 R3,933 4,109 4,251 4,668
Urban highwaya                    
Interstate urban N 277 560 455 627 580 598 647 663 751
Other urban N 1,718 2,464 1,828 2,052 1,986 2,007 2,086 2,093 2,244
All urban 2,014 1,995 3,024 2,283 2,679 2,566 2,605 2,733 2,756 2,995
Total rural and urban highway 4,346 4,544 6,059 5,726 6,409 R6,420 R6,538 6,842 7,007 7,663
Passenger-miles (millions)                    
All buses N N N R121,398 135,871 136,104 138,613 145,060 148,558 162,466
Number of revenue passengers (thousands)                    
Intercity bus, total c366,000 c401,000 c370,000 c334,000 c343,200 c366,500 c347,900 c350,600 c357,600 c358,900
Average miles traveled per vehicle                    
All buses i15,970 i12,035 i11,458 i9,133 i9,560 i9365 R,i9,386 i9,809 i9,793 i10,515
Fuel consumed (million gallons)                    
All buses 827 820 1,018 895 964 968 R985 1,027 1,040 1,146
Average fuel consumption per vehicle (gallons)                    
All buses 3,039 2,172 1,925 1,427 1,438 1,412 R1,414 1,472 1,454 1,573
Average miles traveled per gallon of fuel consumed                    
All buses 5.3 5.5 6.0 6.4 6.6 6.6 6.6 6.7 6.7 6.7
Average revenue per passenger-mile (cents) (intercity) c2.71 c3.60 c7.26 c11.55 c11.61 c12.19 c12.30 R,c12.56 R,c12.75 c12.76

Safety 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Number of fatalities                    
School bus-related N N k150 k115 k105 k123 k136 k131 k128 l167
School bus                    
Occupants N N 9 11 3 13 10 8 6 10
Other vehicle                    
Occupants N N 88 64 64 72 101 99 91 127
Nonoccupants N N 53 40 38 38 25 24 31 30
Occupant fatalities                    
All buses N N 46 32 18 33 21 18 38 m59
School buses N N 14 13 2 12 10 8 6 8
Cross country buses N N 23 2 7 6 3 5 13 32
Transit buses N N 6 3 6 1 5 3 2 6
Other and unknown N N 3 14 6 14 3 2 17 13
Fatalities in vehicular accidentsb                    
All buses N N n390 n340 n286 R,n311 R,n367 R,n339 R,n328 n373
Occupant fatality rate                    
Per 100 million vehicle-miles                    
All buses N N 0.8 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.8
Per 10,000 registered vehicles                    
All buses N N 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.8
Vehicle involvement rate                    
Per 100 million vehicle-miles                    
All buses N N 6.4 5.9 R4.5 R4.8 R5.6 R5.0 R4.7 4.1
Per 10,000 registered vehicles                    
All buses N N 7.4 5.4 R4.3 R4.5 R5.3 R4.9 R4.6 4.4

KEY: N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are not available.

a Urban consists of travel on all roads and streets in urban places of 5,000 or greater population.

b Includes all fatalities that occurred in an accident in which a bus was involved.

NOTE: See transit profile for transit bus data.

SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, refer to chapter tables for sources.

c Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation In America, 2000 (Washington, DC: 2001), p. 11, 16, 18.

d Interstate Commerce Commission, Annual Report of the ICC (Washington, DC: Annual issues), Appendix F, tables 1, 6.

e U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Selected Earnings Data, Class I Motor Carriers of Passengers (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

f U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table MV-10.

g U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours and Earnings, United States, 1909-1994 (Washington, DC: September 1994), SIC codes 413, 415.

h Ibid., Internet site www.bls.gov as of Aug. 20, 2001.

i Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

j Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table VM-201A.

k Ibid., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 1998, DOT HS 808 983 (Washington, DC: October 1999), Tables 74, 93.

l Ibid., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2000 Traffic Safety Fact Sheets, DOT HS 809 332 (Washington, DC: December 2001)

m Ibid., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, personal communication, May 2002.

n Ibid., Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Query, Internet site, http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov as of Sept. 6, 2001