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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 4-5: Fuel Consumption by Mode of Transportation in Physical Units

Friday, July 22, 2016

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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
Air                                                              
Certificated carriersa                                                              
Jet fuel (million gallons) 1,954 3,889 7,857 7,558 8,519 10,115 12,212 11,360 11,598 11,960 12,501 12,812 13,187 13,658 13,303 14,491 13,904 13,112 12,287 12,417 13,380 13,284 13,019 12,999 12,469 11,147 11,057 10,828 10,238 10,156 10,321
General aviationb                                                              
Aviation gasoline (million gallons) 242 292 551 412 520 421 353 354 314 268 266 287 289 292 311 345 333 279 277 272 273 295 283 274 248 227 221 216 206 197 197
Jet fuel (million gallons) N 56 208 453 766 691 663 577 494 454 464 560 608 642 815 967 972 918 938 932 1,231 1,527 1,643 1,486 1,706 1,447 1,435 1,456 1,435 1,260 1,370
Highway                                                              
Gasoline, diesel and other fuels (million gallons)                                                              
Light duty vehicle, short wheel base and motorcyclec 41,171 49,723 67,879 74,253 70,186 71,700 69,759 64,501 65,627 67,246 68,079 68,268 69,419 70,094 71,901 73,495 73,275 73,752 75,662 75,646 75,604 77,608 75,230 90,052 86,079 86,140 87,215 88,359 88,600 88,611 89,301
Light duty vehicle, long wheel basec N U 12,313 19,081 23,796 27,363 35,611 38,217 40,929 42,851 44,112 45,605 47,354 49,388 50,462 52,859 52,939 53,522 55,220 60,758 63,417 58,869 60,685 36,910 34,925 35,711 36,251 35,335 35,114 35,159 37,343
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truckd N 13,848 3,968 5,420 6,923 7,399 8,357 8,172 8,237 8,488 9,032 9,216 9,409 9,576 6,817 9,372 9,563 9,667 10,321 8,880 8,959 9,501 9,852 16,314 17,144 16,253 15,097 14,215 14,376 14,502 14,894
Combination truck N 6,658 7,348 9,177 13,037 14,005 16,133 16,809 17,216 17,748 18,653 19,777 20,193 20,302 25,158 24,537 25,666 25,512 26,480 23,815 24,191 27,689 28,107 30,904 30,561 28,050 29,927 28,181 27,975 28,795 29,118
Bus 827 875 820 1,053 1,018 834 895 864 878 929 964 968 990 1,027 1,040 1,148 1,112 1,026 1,000 969 1,360 1,120 1,148 2,022 2,057 1,987 1,921 1,936 2,063 2,117 2,233
Transite                                                              
Electricity (million kWh) 2,908 2,584 2,561 2,646 2,446 4,216 4,837 4,853 4,716 4,865 5,081 5,068 4,923 4,908 4,962 5,126 5,382 5,485 5,529 5,508 5,657 5,765 5,770 6,216 6,337 6,492 6,414 6,534 6,506 6,651 6,673
Motor fuel (million gallons)                                                              
Dieself 208 248 271 365 431 609 651 665 685 679 678 678 535 539 560 576 591 596 674 555 544 532 545 537 536 658 633 625 613 609 542
Gasoline and other nondiesel fuelsg 192 124 68 8 11 46 34 34 37 46 60 61 25 26 22 21 24 26 35 26 28 29 31 29 31 98 98 101 102 107 108
Compressed natural gas N N N N N N N N 1 2 5 11 11 19 29 35 44 53 66 79 87 94 111 108 113 142 126 128 124 132 138
Rail, Class I (in freight service)                                                              
Distillate / diesel fuel (million gallons) 3,463 3,592 3,545 3,657 3,904 3,110 3,115 2,906 3,005 3,088 3,334 3,480 3,579 3,575 3,583 3,715 3,700 3,710 3,730 3,826 4,059 4,098 4,192 4,062 3,886 3,192 3,494 3,685 3,600 3,682 3,687
Amtrak                                                              
Electricity (million kWh) N N N 180 254 295 330 303 300 301 309 336 363 390 416 443 470 456 518 537 551 531 549 578 582 565 559 555 549 525 515
Distillate / diesel fuel (million gallons) N N N 63 64 65 82 82 82 83 74 72 71 76 76 79 95 97 84 75 69 65 62 62 63 62 63 63 63 66 66
Water                                                              
Residual fuel oil (million gallons) 3,952 3,093 3,774 4,060 8,952 4,590 6,326 6,773 6,563 5,282 5,386 5,886 5,701 5,010 5,620 5,838 6,410 5,409 4,848 3,874 4,690 5,179 5,754 6,327 5,258 4,589 5,143 4,560 4,820 4,212 3,847
Distillate / diesel fuel oil (million gallons) 787 652 819 1,098 1,478 1,699 2,065 2,046 2,219 2,155 2,189 2,339 2,491 2,574 2,595 2,419 2,261 2,044 2,079 2,217 2,140 2,006 1,903 1,924 1,983 1,913 2,003 2,133 1,768 1,676 1,593
Gasoline (million gallons) N N 598 730 1,052 1,053 1,300 1,710 1,316 874 876 1,060 994 987 956 1,098 1,124 994 1,081 1,107 1,005 1,261 1,237 1,222 1,136 1,130 1,167 1,104 1,093 1,123 1,419
Pipeline                                                              
Natural gas (million cubic feet) 347,075 500,524 722,166 582,963 634,622 503,766 659,816 601,305 587,710 624,308 685,362 700,335 711,446 751,470 635,477 645,319 642,210 624,964 666,920 591,492 566,187 584,026 584,213 621,364 647,956 670,174 674,124 687,784 730,790 833,061 835,757

KEY: kWh = kilowatt-hour; N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are unavailable.

a Domestic operations only.

b Includes fuel used in air taxi operations, but not commuter operations.

c Data for 2007-13 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. In addition, this edition of table 4-5 is not comparable to previous editions.

d 1965 data includes other 2-axle 4-tire vehicles.

 

 

 

e Data from 1997-2013 are not comparable to data before 1997 due to different sources. Prior to 1984, excludes commuter rail, automated guideway, ferryboat, demand responsive vehicles, and most rural and small systems.

 

 

 

f Diesel includes Diesel and Bio-Diesel.

g Gasoline and all other nondiesel fuels include Gasoline, Liquified Petroleum Gas, Liquified Natural Gas, Methane, Ethanol, Bunker Fuel, Kerosene, Grain Additive, and Other Fuel.

 

SOURCES

Air:

Certificated air carriers:

1960-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Fuel Cost and Consumption, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp as of Mar. 24, 2016.

General aviation:

1960-70: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation - 1972 edition (Washington, DC: 1973), table 9.12.

1975-93: Ibid., General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity Survey (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 5.1, and similar tables in earlier editions.

1994-2014: Ibid., FAA Aerospace Forecasts Fiscal Years 2015-2035 (Washington, DC: 2015), tables 23 and 31, and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/aviation_forecasts/ as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Highway:

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/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of June 29, 2010.

1995-2014: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Transit:

Electricity / motor fuel / compressed natural gas:

1960-96: American Public Transportation Association, 2009 Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington, DC: June 2009), tables 26, 27, 28 and similar tables in earlier editions.

1997-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transportation Database, table 17 and similar tables in previous years, available at www.ntdprogram.gov as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Rail:

1960-2014: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), p. 43.

Amtrak:

1975-2014: National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), Energy Management Department and Government Affairs Department, personal communications, Apr. 27, 2011, May 8, 2013, Aug. 20. 2014, Sept. 11, 2015 and Jun. 20, 2016.

Water:

Residual and distillate / diesel fuel oil:

1960-80: American Petroleum Institute, Basic Petroleum Data Book (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), tables 10, 10a, 12, and 12a.

1985-2014 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/fuel_oil_and_kerosene_sales/foks.html as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Gasoline:

1970-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table MF-24 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Pipeline:

1960-2014: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual, DOE/EIA-0131(04) (Washington, DC), table 15 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/natural_gas/data_publications/natural_gas_annual/nga.html as of Mar. 24, 2016.