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Table 1-38M: Average Length of Haul, Domestic Freight and Passenger Modes (Kilometers)

Friday, February 3, 2017

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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 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Freight                                                              
Air carrier U U U U U U U 2,104 2,408 2,379 2,542 2,502 2,319 1,795 1,778 1,697 1,733 1,158 1,938 1,927 1,997 1,961 1,960 1,963 2,005 1,869 1,862 1,852 1,890 1,855 1,869
Class I rail 742 810 829 870 991 1,069 1,168 1,209 1,227 1,278 1,315 1,356 1,355 1,369 1,344 1,344 1,357 1,382 1,373 1,388 1,451 1,438 1,457 1,469 1,479 1,478 1,470 1,476 1,566 1,594 1,619
Coastwise (water) 2,408 2,416 2,429 2,192 3,082 3,174 2,582 2,744 2,835 2,656 2,659 2,658 2,456 2,140 2,030 2,059 2,013 1,976 1,961 2,008 2,042 1,984 1,812 1,783 1,796 1,884 1,882 1,801 1,661 1,599 1,609
Lakewise (water) 840 795 814 853 863 843 890 861 836 827 817 828 817 815 812 806 814 818 851 852 867 869 882 874 895 853 907 899 915 917 907
Internal (water) 454 478 531 576 652 700 756 777 771 752 775 795 768 750 759 785 775 766 777 735 730 708 717 703 714 755 749 783 765 714 755
Intraport (water) U U U 26 27 24 20 21 20 20 25 26 27 25 25 25 25 24 24 25 26 27 28 27 26 38 26 25 25 24 25
Crude (oil pipeline) 523 515 483 U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U
Petroleum products (oil pipeline) 433 539 575 U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U
Passenger                                                              
Air carrier, domestic, scheduled 938 988 1,091 1,123 1,184 1,220 1,292 1,297 1,297 1,286 1,267 1,273 1,291 1,315 1,307 1,326 1,342 1,359 1,370 1,359 1,387 1,394 1,404 1,404 1,403 1,403 1,413 1,421 1,425 1,440 1,445
Commuter rail U U U U 37 38 35 37 37 35 38 39 38 36 37 36 37 37 37 38 38 36 38 39 38 39 38 39 38 40 38
Amtraka N N N 380 348 372 439 459 460 451 449 431 412 412 404 399 393 381 376 372 352 345 355 351 346 349 355 343 350 351 351

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

a Amtrak began operations in 1971. Data are reported for fiscal years.

NOTES

Average length of haul for freight is calculated by dividing ton-miles by estimates of tonnage from the various data sources. The calculation of average length of haul for passenger trips varies by mode: for air carrier it is calculated by dividing revenue passenger-miles by revenue passenger enplanements; for commuter rail and Amtrak it is calculated by dividing passenger-miles by number of passengers.

Eno Transportation Foundation has discontinued some data series years prior to 1990.

1.609344 kilometers = 1 mile.

SOURCES

Freight:

Air carrier:

1991-01: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Freight Summary Data (U.S. Carriers), special tabulation, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/rtm91_02.htm as of Aug. 18, 2011.

2002: Ibid., TranStats Database, T-100 Market Data, special tabulation, Mar. 18, 2010.

2003-14: Ibid., Air Cargo Summary Data (All U.S. Carriers), special tabulation, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/freight.asp as of Aug. 2016.

Class I rail:

Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), pp. 30, 31, and similar pages in previous editions.

Water:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the United States, Part 5 (New Orleans, LA: Annual Issues), section 1, table 1-4, available at http://www.navigationdatacenter.us/wcsc/wcsc.htm as of Nov. 15, 2016.

Oil pipeline:

1960-70: Transportation Policy Associates, Washington, DC, personal communication.

Passenger:

Air carrier:

1960-99: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics, T-100 Segment Data (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), p. 3 and similar pages in previous issues.

2000-14: Ibid., TranStats Database, T-100 Market Data and T-100 Segment Data, special tabulation, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=3 as of Nov. 2016.

Commuter Rail:

1980-95: American Public Transportation Association, Public Transportation Fact Book, Appendix A: Historical Tables (Washington, DC: April 2011), table 3, available at http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/transitstats.aspx as of Aug. 18, 2011.

1996-14: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 19 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/data.htm as of Nov. 2016.

Amtrak:

1970-85: Amtrak, personal communication, Jan. 26, 1999.

1990-02: Amtrak, Amtrak Annual Report (Washington, DC: 2003), Statistical Appendix.

2003-14: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), p. 77 and similar pages in previous editions.