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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 1-40M: U.S. Passenger-Kilometers

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 1-40M: U.S. Passenger-Kilometers

Excel | CSV

(Millions)

  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Air                                                    
Air carrier, certificated, domestic, all services 50,049 85,659 174,520 (R) 192,464 (R) 307,008 (R) 443,959 (R) 556,629 (R) 544,096 (R) 570,938 (R) 582,948 (R) 625,086 (R) 650,033 (R) 699,504 (R) 725,288 (R) 744,730 (R) 785,263 (R) 834,603 782,956 (R) 778,234 (R) 813,646 (R) 898,282 (R) 939,467 (R) 947,026 (R) 977,758 (R) 938,699 887,926
Highway, total 2,047,212 2,502,912 3,286,284 3,870,399 4,270,411 4,848,878 5,731,210 5,794,157 5,950,903 6,064,114 6,175,877 6,225,055 6,386,498 6,581,197 6,760,265 6,927,051 7,065,142 7,473,461 7,510,870 7,599,111 7,796,390 7,866,385 7,933,046 8,016,285 7,886,060 6,817,800
Light duty vehicle, short wheel basea,b,c 1,842,173 2,244,718 2,817,796 3,144,925 3,237,982 3,370,965 3,671,543 3,540,975 3,553,795 3,561,931 3,620,609 3,680,388 3,761,146 3,844,827 3,965,147 4,015,104 4,094,907 4,114,258 4,217,107 4,251,702 4,322,419 4,344,110 4,298,629 5,351,032 5,148,478 4,502,040
Motorcycleb,c U U 5,274 9,965 19,725 19,009 19,995 18,759 19,226 19,609 19,940 17,344 17,561 17,846 18,203 18,736 18,533 18,925 19,523 19,574 20,689 21,367 24,628 43,731 42,534 36,056
Light duty vehicle, long wheel basea,b,c U U 363,090 584,622 838,104 1,107,376 1,608,947 1,797,569 1,933,896 2,016,283 2,042,728 2,021,571 2,089,410 2,176,919 2,221,791 2,305,586 2,361,976 2,701,851 2,695,316 2,745,706 2,865,873 2,904,621 3,020,240 1,636,715 1,689,275 1,326,343
Truck, single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or mored 158,602 207,234 43,583 55,693 64,073 73,130 83,527 85,131 86,702 91,366 98,627 100,914 103,114 107,654 109,469 113,143 113,459 137,581 122,094 125,137 126,239 126,327 129,301 193,087 204,153 193,383
Truck, combination 46,436 50,960 56,543 75,195 110,527 125,630 151,827 155,535 160,146 165,949 175,309 185,800 191,349 200,499 206,574 213,051 217,294 259,377 223,276 225,566 229,122 231,790 228,799 296,440 295,839 270,116
Buse U U U U U 152,767 195,371 196,189 197,138 208,977 218,663 219,038 223,918 233,451 239,081 261,430 258,973 241,470 233,554 231,425 232,049 238,170 231,449 495,280 505,782 489,862
Transit, totalf U U U U 64,139 63,699 66,213 65,505 64,762 63,382 63,706 64,065 62,739 64,664 66,957 69,651 72,582 74,847 74,184 73,510 74,908 75,840 79,669 83,482 86,441 86,741
Motor buse U U U U 35,068 34,055 33,766 33,941 32,728 32,584 30,307 30,285 27,040 28,178 28,765 30,069 30,267 31,516 31,670 30,865 30,450 31,261 32,815 32,811 34,115 33,957
Light rail U U U U 613 563 919 1,065 1,128 1,135 1,341 1,384 1,537 1,647 1,795 1,915 2,156 2,297 2,304 2,375 2,537 2,735 3,003 3,107 3,349 3,534
Heavy rail U U U U 16,991 16,781 18,467 16,943 17,280 16,465 17,168 16,993 18,556 19,402 19,770 20,764 22,279 22,817 21,989 21,897 23,101 23,203 23,692 25,972 27,117 27,045
Trolley bus U U U U 352 492 311 314 320 303 301 301 296 304 292 300 309 301 302 283 279 278 264 250 259 270
Commuter rail 6,754 6,643 7,390 7,263 10,486 10,515 11,397 11,819 11,780 11,169 12,868 13,267 13,439 12,935 14,005 14,104 15,128 15,359 15,288 15,378 15,635 15,241 16,671 17,923 17,754 17,911
Demand responsivee U U U U U 586 694 731 797 904 929 977 629 855 826 900 946 1,007 1,048 1,108 1,133 1,188 1,212 1,252 1,358 1,418
Ferry boatg U U U U U U 460 454 436 418 418 418 411 409 451 474 480 475 485 590 575 578 579 613 628 587
Otherg U U U U 628 707 200 238 293 404 373 439 830 932 1,053 1,125 1,018 1,074 1,098 1,012 1,199 1,355 1,434 1,555 1,860 2,018
Rail                                                    
Intercity/Amtrakh 27,462 21,340 9,944 6,326 7,247 7,765 9,748 10,095 9,803 9,976 9,529 8,924 8,127 8,314 8,536 8,578 8,848 8,946 8,800 9,141 8,869 8,660 8,706 9,309 9,943 9,518

KEY: R = revised; U = data are unavailable.

a 1960-2006 data are for Passenger Cars and Other 2-axle, 4-tire vehicles, respectively. Data for 1960-2006 are not comparable to data for 2007-09.

b U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), provides data separately for Light duty vehicle, short wheel base (formerly Passenger car) and Motorcycle in its annual Highway Statistics series. However, the 1995 summary report provides updated data for Light duty vehicle, short wheel base (formerly Passenger car) and Motorcycle combined. Light duty vehicle, short wheel base (formerly Passenger car) figures in this table were computed by U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, by subtracting the most current motorcycle figures from the aggregate Light duty vehicle, short wheel base (formerly Passenger car) and Motorcycle figures.

c 1960-65, Motorcycle data are included in Light duty vehicle, short wheel base (formerly Passenger car), and Long duty vehicle, long wheel base (formerly Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicle) data included in Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more Truck.

d Light duty vehicles, long wheel base (formerly Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicles) are included in single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck in 1960 and 1965.

e Motor bus and demand responsive figures are also included in the bus figure for highway.

f Prior to 1985, excludes demand responsive and most rural and smaller systems funded via Sections 18 and 16(b)2, Federal Transit Act. The series is not continuous between 1980 and 1985. Transit rail modes are measured in car-miles. Car-miles measure individual vehicle-miles in a train. A 10-car train traveling 1 mile would equal 1 train-mile and 10 car-miles.

g Ferry boats are included in Other in 1980 and 1985.

h National Passenger Railroad Corporation (Amtrak) began operations in 1971. Does not include contract commuter passengers.

NOTES

Air carrier passenger-kilometers are computed by summing the products of the aircraft-kilometers flown on each interairport segment multiplied by the number of passengers carried on that segment. Highway passenger-kilometers from 1960 to 1994 are calculated by multiplying vehicle-kilometers of travel as cited by FHWA by the average number of occupants for each vehicle type. Average vehicle occupancy rates are based on various sources, such as the National Household Travel Survey, conducted by the Federal Highway Administration, and the Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey, conducted by the Bureau of the Census. Transit passenger-kilometers are the cumulative sum of the distances ridden by each passenger. Rail passenger-kilometers represent the movement of 1 passenger for 1 Kilometer.

Highway data for 2007-09 were calculated using a new methodology developed by FHWA. Data for these years are based on new categories and are not comparable to previous years. The new category Light duty vehicle, short wheel base includes passenger cars, light trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles with a wheelbase (WB) equal to or less than 121 inches. The new category Light duty vehicle, long wheel base includes large passenger cars, vans, pickup trucks, and sport/utility vehicles with wheelbases (WB) larger than 121 inches.

2007 data for Bus, Paratransit (Demand responsive), and Other are not comparable to earlier years due to change in the method of data collection and estimation by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

Transit data from 1996 and after are not comparable to the data for earlier years or to the data published in previous editions of the report due to different data sources used.

Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

1 mile = 1.609344 kilometers

SOURCES

Air:

Air carrier, domestic, all services:

1960: Civil Aeronautics Board, Handbook of Airline Statistics, 1969 (Washington, DC: 1970), part III, table 2.

1965-70: Ibid., Handbook of Airline Statistics, 1973 (Washington, DC: 1974), part III, table 2.

1975-2009: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Summary : T1: U.S. Air Carrier Traffic And Capacity Summary by Service Class, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/DL_SelectFields.asp?Table_ID=264&DB_Short_Name=Air%20Carrier%20Summary as of May 10, 2011.

Highway:

Passenger car and motorcycle:

1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, table VM-201A, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

1995-2006: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

Light duty vehicle, short wheel base:

2007-09: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

Motorcycle:

1970-80: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1985 (Washington, DC: 1986), table VM-201A.

1985-2009: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicle:

1970-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, table VM-201A, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

1995-2006: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

Light duty vehicle, long wheel base:

2007-09: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

Single-unit 2-axle 6-tires or more truck, combination truck, and bus:

1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, table VM-201A, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

1995-2009: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Oct. 6, 2011.

Transit:

Ferryboat:

1992: American Public Transit Association, personal communication, July 19, 2000.

1993-95: American Public Transit Association, personal communication, Aug. 13, 2001.

1996-2009: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database, available at http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/data.htm as of May 9, 2011.

All other data:

1960-1995: American Public Transportation Association, Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 2 and similar tables in earlier editions.

1996-2009: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database, available at http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/data.htm as of May 9, 2011.

Rail, Intercity / Amtrak:

1960-80: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues).

1985: Amtrak, Amtrak FY95 Annual Report (Washington, DC: 1996), Statistical Appendix, page 4.

1990-2002: Ibid., Amtrak Annual Report (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), Statistical Appendix.

2003-09: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), page 77.