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Table 4-20: Energy Intensity of Passenger Modes (Btu per passenger-mile)

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 (R) 2013 2014
Air, certificated carrier                                                              
Domestic operations 8,633 10,118 10,185 8,532 6,029 4,950 4,767 4,536 4,413 4,457 4,345 4,282 4,096 4,091 3,881 4,009 3,892 3,848 3,608 3,493 3,408 3,232 3,142 3,040 2,936 2,774 2,691 2,588 2,428 2,366 2,329
International operations 9,199 10,292 10,986 7,547 4,374 4,586 4,207 4,192 3,963 3,861 3,916 3,932 3,893 3,955 3,854 3,952 3,857 4,039 3,984 4,180 3,890 3,817 3,665 3,572 3,473 3,384 3,338 3,519 3,484 3,392 3,260
Highway                                                              
Light duty vehicle, short wheel basea,b,c N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N 3,368 3,344 3,823 (R) 3,854 3,885 3,864 3,843 3,877
Passenger carsa,d 4,496 4,456 4,842 4,742 4,348 4,268 3,812 3,654 3,704 3,787 3,771 3,721 3,702 3,657 3,637 3,672 2,939 2,929 2,933 2,911 2,864 2,922 2,898 N N N N N N N N
Motorcycleb,c U U 2,289 2,281 2,080 1,926 1,922 1,973 1,999 2,031 2,068 2,273 2,273 2,273 2,273 2,273 1,693 1,708 1,683 1,656 1,331 1,351 1,136 2,185 2,315 (R) 2,688 (R) 2,675 (R) 2,669 2,665 2,665 2,665
Light duty vehicle, long wheel basea,b,c N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N 4,537 4,159 5,411 (R) 5,447 5,472 5,465 5,453 5,472
Other 2-axle 4-tire vehiclesa,d U U 6,822 6,566 5,712 4,971 4,452 4,277 4,258 4,275 4,344 4,538 4,559 4,564 4,569 4,612 7,769 7,533 7,664 8,292 8,029 7,303 6,917 N N N N N N N N
Truck, single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or morec U U 18,315 19,578 21,736 20,353 20,127 19,311 19,112 18,689 18,422 18,372 18,356 17,894 17,901 16,663 11,896 11,679 12,021 9,848 10,067 10,823 9,987 16,997 16,893 16,901 17,051 17,118 17,017 17,008 17,033
Truck, combination U 26,283 26,143 24,551 23,728 22,426 21,376 21,741 21,626 21,515 21,404 21,413 21,229 20,369 24,500 23,169 19,897 18,873 19,677 17,154 17,483 19,763 19,813 20,972 20,781 20,858 21,265 21,507 21,375 21,369 21,431
Bus U U U U U 1,098 922 886 896 894 887 889 889 885 875 884 443 466 442 427 593 502 482 821 818 814 822 828 823 823 823
Transit motor bus N N N N 2,742 3,389 3,723 3,767 4,038 3,944 4,162 4,155 4,170 (R) 3,761 (R) 3,712 (R) 3,615 (R) 3,711 (R) 3,598 (R) 3,460 (R) 3,362 (R) 3,426 (R) 3,207 (R) 3,176 (R) 3,083 (R) 3,031 (R) 3,484 (R) 3,089 (R) 1,838 (R) 3,998 3,143 2,760
Amtrak N N N 2,383 2,148 2,089 2,066 1,978 2,024 2,018 1,900 2,017 2,201 2,289 2,255 2,344 2,688 2,690 2,537 2,145 2,068 2,025 1,948 1,824 1,745 1,773 1,668 1,628 1,561 1,608 1,629

KEY: Btu = British thermal unit; N = data does not exist; R = revised; U = data are not available.

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 2007-12.

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 are included in Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more Truck.

d In July 1997, the FHWA published revised vehicle-miles data for the highway modes for many years. The major change reflected the reassignment of some vehicles from the Passenger cars category to the Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicles category. This category was calculated prior to rounding.

NOTES

To calculate total Btu, multiply fuel consumed (see tables 4-21, 4-22, 4-24, 4-26) by 135,000 Btu/gallon for air carrier; 125,000 Btu/gallon for Light duty vehicle, short wheel base, Light duty vehicle, long wheel base, and Motorcycle; 138,700 Btu/gallon for Transit motor bus and Amtrak diesel consumption; and 3,412 Btu/KwH for Amtrak electric consumption.

Amtrak passenger-miles data for 2000 and earlier years are for fiscal years; and are not be comparable with 2001 and later years which is reported in calendar year.

Transit motor bus data for 1996 and later years are obtained from the National Transit Database and cannot be compared with data for earlier years.

SOURCES

Air:

Certificated air carriers:

Passenger-miles:

1960-70: Air Transport Association, available at http://www.air-transport.org/ as of July 31, 2002.

1975-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T1: U.S. Air Carrier Traffic and Capacity Summary by Service Class, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Fields.asp?Table_ID=264 as of Oct. 27, 2015.

Fuel consumed:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Airline Fuel Cost and Consumption, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp as of Oct. 27, 2015.

Highway:

Passenger car:

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:

2007-14: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of June 6, 2016.

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:

2007-14: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of June 6, 2016.

Motorcycle:

1970-94: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1985 (Washington, DC: 1986), table VM-201A.

For 1970-94, the unrevised motorcycle vehicle-miles are subtracted from the combined passenger car and motorcycle vehicle-miles from VM-201A.

1995-2014: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of June 6, 2016.

Transit motor bus:

1960-95: American Public Transportation Association, 2010 Public Transportation Fact Book Appendix A: Historical Tables (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), tables 2, 6, 30, 32 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/transitstats.aspx as of Aug 23, 2010.

1996-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database, tables 17, 19, and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/data.htm as of Apr. 13, 2016.

Amtrak:

1975-2001: Amtrak., State and Local Affairs Department, personal communication.

2001-14: Amtrak, personal communications, Jan. 7, 2010, Jul. 26, 2011, Apr. 24, 2012, June 9, 2014, Sept. 11, 2015, and Jun. 21, 2016.