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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

Bus Profile

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Bus Profile

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FINANCIAL

1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Operating revenues ($ thousands)                                      
Intercity bus, Class I1,a 463,100 721,700 1,397,378 943,268 1,161,479 1,189,235 985,537 1,080,083 1,074,582 1,326,909 1,133,822 1,117,526 1,120,422 1,345,056 U U U U U
Operating expenses ($ thousands)                                      
Intercity bus, Class I1,a 405,400 639,000 1,318,372 1,026,213 1,289,834 1,253,537 941,014 1,022,680 1,016,208 1,313,900 1,078,386 1,080,186 1,092,596 1,321,407 U U U U U

INVENTORY

1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Number of operating companies                                      
Intercity bus, Class I1,a 143 71 61 31 26 24 20 22 20 18 15 15 16 36 U U U U U
Number of vehicles, all buses2 272,129 377,562 528,789 626,987 670,423 685,503 694,781 697,548 715,540 728,777 746,125 749,548 760,717 776,550 795,274 807,053 821,959 834,436 843,308
Number of employees3 (SIC based)                                      
Intercity and rural bus transportation 40,500 43,400 37,900 26,100 23,600 23,800 23,800 22,200 24,400 23,800 24,700 25,100 23,000 N N N N N N
School buses N N 79,900 111,200 125,900 131,100 132,200 136,500 141,000 146,100 146,700 147,700 148,700 N N N N N N
Number of employees4 (NAICS based)                                      
Interurban and rural bus transportation 38,200 40,900 35,800 24,600 22,300 22,500 22,500 21,000 23,000 22,500 23,400 23,600 22,800 21,900 20,100 20,200 19,600 U U
School and employee bus transportation N N 81,400 114,200 130,000 135,500 136,900 141,500 146,200 151,400 152,000 153,000 161,100 164,800 166,600 168,800 172,300 176,600 182,100
Charter bus industry N N 14,800 26,100 28,300 29,200 31,000 32,000 33,900 36,100 38,200 36,800 35,500 33,200 32,200 31,400 31,200 32,300 33,100

PERFORMANCE

1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Vehicle-miles, all buses (millions)5 4,346 4,544 6,059 5,727 6,409 6,420 6,535 6,842 7,007 7,662 7,590 7,077 6,845 6,783 6,801 6,980 6,783 6,980 7,114
Rural highway, total 2,332 2,549 3,035 3,444 3,730 3,854 3,933 4,109 4,251 4,667 4,489 4,165 3,941 3,806 3,691 3,667 3,521 3,723 3,819
Interstate rural N 339 533 567 683 711 742 794 834 971 978 951 943 995 999 946 950 986 1,027
Other arterial rural N 944 991 995 1,154 1,171 1,186 1,243 1,282 1,375 1,270 1,133 1,104 1,001 992 973 959 1,015 1,020
Other rural N 1,266 1,511 1,882 1,893 1,972 2,005 2,072 2,135 2,321 2,241 2,081 1,894 1,810 1,700 1,748 1,612 1,722 1,772
Urban highwayb, total 2,014 1,995 3,024 2,283 2,679 2,566 2,602 2,733 2,756 2,995 3,101 2,912 2,904 2,977 3,110 3,313 3,263 3,257 3,295
Interstate urban N 277 560 455 627 580 599 647 663 752 791 775 803 943 986 1,062 1,024 1,052 1,077
Other urban N 1,718 2,464 1,828 2,052 1,986 2,003 2,086 2,093 2,243 2,310 2,137 2,101 2,033 2,124 2,251 2,239 2,205 2,218
Passenger-miles (millions), all buses5 N N N 121,398 135,871 136,104 138,613 145,060 148,558 162,445 160,919 150,042 145,124 143,801 144,188 147,992 143,816 147,985 150,827
Number of revenue passengers (thousands)                                      
Intercity bus, total6,c 366,000 401,000 370,000 334,000 343,200 366,500 347,900 350,600 357,600 358,900 364,600 356,900 585,600 547,500 534,000 U U U U
Average miles traveled per vehicle, all buses5 15,970 12,035 11,458 9,133 9,560 9,365 9,386 9,809 9,793 10,515 10,173 9,442 8,998 8,734 8,552 8,649 8,253 8,365 8,436
Fuel consumed (million gallons), all buses5 827 820 1,018 895 964 968 985 1,027 1,040 1,148 1,112 1,026 1,000 968,945 1,360 1,120 1,148 1,145 1,110
Average fuel consumption per vehicle (gallons), all buses5 3,039 2,172 1,925 1,427 1,438 1,412 1,414 1,472 1,454 1,576 1,490 1,369 1,314 1,248 1,710 1,388 1,397 1,372 1,316
Average miles traveled per gallon of fuel consumed, all buses5 5.3 5.5 6.0 6.4 6.6 6.6 6.6 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.8 7.0 5.0 6.2 5.9 6.1 6.4
Average revenue per passenger-mile (cents) (intercity)6,d U U U 9.31 (R) 9.61 (R) 9.36 (R) 9.57 (R) 9.44 (R) 9.31 (R) 8.96 (R) 9.41 (R) 9.54 9.72 10.43 11.12 U U U U

SAFETY

1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Number of fatalities7                                      
School bus-related N N 150 115 104 121 136 128 126 164 143 141 127 138 130 134 150 141 153
School bus occupants N N 9 11 3 13 10 10 6 10 20 18 3 11 7 10 8 5 19
Other vehicle                                      
Occupants N N 88 64 64 71 101 95 90 126 98 95 98 99 90 87 119 112 105
Nonoccupants N N 53 40 37 37 25 23 30 28 26 28 26 28 33 37 23 24 29
Occupant fatalities, all buses7 N N 46 32 21 32 21 17 36 58 22 34 45 40 41 58 27 37 67
School buses N N 14 13 2 12 10 7 4 8 16 16 2 7 7 8 6 3 14
Cross country buses N N 23 2 7 6 3 4 13 32 3 3 20 3 23 33 8 19 13
Transit buses N N 6 3 6 0 5 3 2 5 1 4 6 11 1 3 1 6 23
Other and unknown N N 3 14 6 14 3 3 17 13 2 11 17 19 17 14 12 9 17
Fatalities in vehicular accidentse, all buses8 N N 390 340 286 311 367 339 329 373 357 331 331 337 315 340 337 325 307
Occupant fatality rate                                      
Per 100 million vehicle-miles, all buses5,7 N N 0.8 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.9
Per 10,000 registered vehicles, all buses2,7 N N 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.3 0.4 0.8
Vehicle involvement rate (fatal crashes)                                      
Per 100 million vehicle-miles, all buses5,8 N N 6.4 5.9 4.5 4.8 5.6 5.0 4.7 4.9 3.8 3.1 5.0 4.3 4.1 4.0 4.5 4.0 3.5
Per 10,000 registered vehicles, all buses2,8 N N 7.4 5.4 4.3 4.5 5.3 4.9 4.6 5.2 3.9 2.9 4.5 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.7 3.4 2.9

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

a In 2003, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implemented a program to improve reporting by Class I intercity bus carriers. This accounts for the large increase in Number of operating companies between 2002 and 2003, and as a result the large increase in Operating revenues and Operating expenses. For all years, New Jersey Transit has been excluded from the totals because of its status as a publicly run carrier.

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

c Number of revenue passengers data for 1960 to 1980 are for both regular route and charter buses of all classes. 1990 to 2001 data are for regular route and charter Class I Carriers only. For 2002 to 2004, this category includes charter, tour, sightseeing, airport shuttle, contract and private commuters, and scheduled services.

d Average revenue per passenger mile data for 2002 to 2004 is Greyhound Lines passenger service revenue per passenger-mile.

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

NOTES

See transit profile for transit bus data.

SOURCES

1 1960-95: Interstate Commerce Commission, Annual Report of the ICC (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), Appendix F, tables 1 and 6.

1996-2002: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Selected Earnings Data, Class I Motor Carriers of Passengers (Washington, DC: Annual Issues).

2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, personal communication, Feb. 16, 2005.

2 U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table MV-10, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/ as of July 13, 2010.

3 1960-2002: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics Survey, SIC codes: "413 Intercity and rural bus transportation" and "415 School buses," available at http://www.bls.gov/data/archived.htm as of January 2005.

4 1960-2008: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics Survey, NAICS codes: "4852 Interurban and rural bus transportation," "4854 School and employee bus transportation," and "4855 Charter bus industry," available at http://www.bls.gov/ces/data.htm as of July 13, 2010.

5 1960-95: 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/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of July 16, 2010.

1996-2008: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/ as of July 13, 2010.

6 2000-01: Eno Transportation Foundation, Transportation in America, 20th Edition (Washington, DC: 2007)

7 U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), tables 75 and 95 and similar tables in previous issues, available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Cats/listpublications.aspx?Id=E&ShowBy=DocType as of July 13, 2010.

8 U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2008, table 25, available at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/art-public-reports.aspx as of Feb. 19, 2010.