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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 4-9M: Motor Vehicle Fuel Consumption and Travel

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 4-9M: Motor Vehicle Fuel Consumption and Travel

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  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
Vehicles registered (thousands) 73,858 90,358 111,242 137,913 161,490 177,133 193,057 192,314 194,427 198,041 201,802 205,427 210,441 211,580 215,496 220,461 225,821 235,331 234,624 236,760 243,011 247,421 250,845 254,403 255,918 254,213
Vehicle-kilometers traveled (millions) 1,156,735 1,428,795 1,785,928 2,136,668 2,457,943 2,856,306 3,451,016 3,495,576 3,616,439 3,695,662 3,794,170 3,898,951 4,000,585 4,122,648 4,235,024 4,330,835 4,420,747 4,499,098 4,595,495 4,651,360 4,771,364 4,811,021 4,851,160 4,878,121 4,790,257 4,753,200
Fuel consumed (million liters) 219,099 269,160 349,504 412,551 435,170 459,175 494,962 486,664 503,034 519,594 533,135 544,471 557,836 569,273 588,173 611,009 615,334 618,833 638,532 643,781 656,887 661,640 662,532 667,000 646,417 636,479
Average kilometers traveled per vehicle (thousands) 15.7 15.8 16.1 15.5 15.2 16.1 17.9 18.2 18.6 18.7 18.8 19.0 19.0 19.5 19.7 19.6 19.6 19.1 19.6 19.6 19.6 19.4 19.3 19.2 18.7 18.7
Average kilometers traveled per liter 5.3 5.3 5.1 5.2 5.6 6.2 7.0 7.2 7.2 7.1 7.1 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.2 7.2 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.3 7.4 7.5
Average fuel consumed per vehicle (liters) 2,967 2,979 3,142 2,991 2,695 2,592 2,564 2,531 2,587 2,624 2,642 2,650 2,651 2,691 2,729 2,772 2,725 2,630 2,722 2,719 2,703 2,674 2,641 2,622 2,526 2,504

KEY: R = revised.

NOTES

Motor vehicles, fuel consumption and travel data include light duty vehicles, buses, trucks and motorcycles.

For 2007-09, the methodology and data categories of the Highway Statistics series were updated, so the data from 1960-2006 are not comparable. In addition, this edition of table 4-9 is not comparable to previous editions.

See tables 4-11, 4-12, 4-13, 4-14, and 4-15 for individual highway vehicles.

1 gallon = 3.785412 liters and 1 mile = 1.609344 kilometers.

SOURCES

1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), 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.