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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

Friday, October 21, 2016

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FINANCIAL 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 (R) 2007 (R) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Expenditures ($ thousands)
School bus1 486,000 1,219,000 3,833,000 8,031,000 7,847,000 9,889,000 9,082,000 10,353,000 10,326,000 10,340,000 12,104,000 12,624,000 U U U U U U U U U U U U U
Operating revenues ($ thousands)
Intercity bus, Class I2,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 U U U U U U
Operating expenses ($ thousands)
Intercity bus, Class I2,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 U U U U U U

 

INVENTORY 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 (R) 2007 (R) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of operating companies
Intercity bus, Class I2,a 143 71 61 31 26 24 20 22 20 18 15 15 16 36 U U U U U U U U U U U
Number of vehicles, all buses3 272,129 377,562 528,789 626,987 670,423 685,503 694,781 697,548 715,540 728,777 746,125 749,548 760,717 776,550 795,274 807,053 821,959 834,436 843,308 841,993 846,051 666,064 764,509 864,534 872,027
Number of employees4 (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 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 N N N N N N
Number of employees5 (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 (R) 20,820 (R) 20,320 (R) 18,440 18,750 18,420 18,390 17,720 17,470 18,130 18,270 17,150
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 (R) 188,120 (R) 188,820 (R) 185,270 188,900 196,280 198,420 200,190 199,370 199,820 200,780 205,150
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 (R) 33,670 (R) 33,230 (R) 32,060 32,040 33,650 32,950 31,090 31,100 30,390 30,110 30,530

 

PERFORMANCE 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 (R) 2007 (R) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Vehicle-miles, all buses (millions)6 4,346 4,544 6,059 5,727 6,409 6,420 6,535 6,842 7,007 7,662 7,590 (R) 7,070 6,845 (R) 6,782 6,801 6,980 6,783 14,516 14,823 14,387 13,770 13,783 14,755 15,167 15,999
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 (R) 4,158 3,941 (R) 3,805 3,691 3,667 3,521 6,207 6,317 6,217 5,635 5,703 5,741 5,667 5,540
Interstate rural N 339 533 567 683 711 742 794 834 971 978 951 943 (R) 994 999 946 950 1,810 2,057 1,603 1,553 1,670 1,674 1,513 1,533
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 (R) 1,001 992 973 959 2,284 2,141 2,075 2,034 1,981 2,036 2,079 2,022
Other rural N 1,266 1,511 1,882 1,893 1,972 2,005 2,072 2,135 2,321 2,241 (R) 2,074 1,894 (R) 1,809 1,700 1,748 1,612 2,113 2,119 2,540 2,048 2,052 2,031 2,075 1,986
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 (R) 2,911 2,904 (R) 2,977 3,110 3,313 3,263 8,308 8,506 8,170 8,135 8,079 9,013 9,500 10,458
Interstate urban N 277 560 455 627 580 599 647 663 752 791 (R) 775 803 (R) 943 986 1,062 1,024 2,089 2,131 2,171 2,011 2,112 2,359 2,144 2,373
Other urban N 1,718 2,464 1,828 2,052 1,986 2,003 2,086 2,093 2,243 2,310 (R) 2,136 2,101 (R) 2,034 2,124 2,251 2,239 6,219 6,376 5,999 6,123 5,967 6,654 7,356 8,085
Passenger-miles (millions), all buses6 N N N 121,398 135,871 136,104 138,613 145,060 148,558 162,445 160,919 150,042 145,124 143,801 144,188 147,992 143,816 307,753 314,278 305,014 291,914 292,192 312,797 321,544 339,177
Number of revenue passengers (thousands)
Intercity bus, total1,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 U U U U U U
Average miles traveled per vehicle, all buses6 15,970 12,035 11,458 9,133 9,560 9,365 9,386 9,809 9,793 10,515 10,173 (R) 9,432 8,998 (R) 8,733 8,552 8,649 8,253 17,396 17,578 17,087 16,275 20,693 19,299 17,543 18,347
Fuel consumed (million gallons), all buses6 827 820 1,018 895 964 968 985 1,027 1,040 1,148 1,112 1,026 1,000 (R) 969 1,360 (R) 1,120 1,148 2,022 2,057 1,987 1,921 1,933 2,059 2,117 2,233
Average fuel consumption per vehicle (gallons), all buses6 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 2,423 2,439 2,360 2,271 2,902 2,694 2,448 2,561
Average miles traveled per gallon of fuel consumed, all buses6 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 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.2 7.1 7.2 7.2 7.2
Average revenue per passenger-mile (cents) (intercity)1,d 2.71 3.60 7.26 9.31 11.61 12.19 12.30 12.56 12.75 12.76 12.79 12.91 9.72 10.43 11.12 U U U U U U U U U U

 

SAFETY 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 (R) 2007 (R) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of fatalities7
School bus-related N N 150 115 104 121 136 128 126 164 143 141 127 138 130 134 150 141 153 118 129 123 131 130 120
School bus occupants N N 9 11 3 13 10 10 6 10 20 18 3 11 7 10 8 5 19 5 16 11 14 11 11
Other vehicle
Occupants N N 88 64 64 71 101 95 90 126 98 95 98 99 90 87 119 112 105 91 83 87 87 92 77
Nonoccupants N N 53 40 37 37 25 23 30 28 26 28 26 28 33 37 23 24 29 22 30 25 30 27 32
Occupant fatalities, all buses7 N N 46 32 21 32 21 17 36 58 22 34 45 40 41 58 27 37 67 26 44 54 39 48 44
School buses N N 14 13 2 12 10 7 4 8 16 16 2 7 7 8 6 3 14 3 15 9 13 11 11
Cross country buses N N 23 2 7 6 3 4 13 32 3 3 20 3 23 33 8 19 13 9 15 31 15 17 19
Transit buses N N 6 3 6 0 5 3 2 5 1 4 6 11 1 3 1 6 23 0 3 4 1 2 2
Other and unknown N N 3 14 6 14 3 3 17 13 2 11 17 19 10 14 12 9 17 14 11 10 10 18 12
Fatalities in vehicular accidentse, all buses8 N N (R) 329 (R) 286 (R) 256 (R) 271 (R) 324 (R) 295 (R) 288 (R) 313 (R) 323 (R) 289 (R) 274 (R) 288 (R) 276 (R) 278 (R) 303 280 251 221 247 243 252 282 233
Occupant fatality rate
Per 100 million vehicle-miles, all buses6,7 N N 0.8 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.3 (R) 0.5 0.7 (R) 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3
Per 10,000 registered vehicles, all buses3,7 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 0.3 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.6 0.5
Vehicle involvement rate (fatal crashes)
Per 100 million vehicle-miles, all buses6,8 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 (R) 4.5 1.9 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.9 1.5
Per 10,000 registered vehicles, all buses3,8 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 (R) 3.7 3.4 3.0 2.6 2.9 3.6 3.3 3.3 2.7

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

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.

NOTE

See transit profile for transit bus data.

SOURCES

1 1960-99: Eno Transportation Foundation, Transportation In America, with Historical Compendium (Washington, DC: 2001).

2000-01: Ibid., Transportation in America, 19th Edition (Washington, DC: 2002)

2 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.

3 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 May 6, 2016.

4 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.

5 1960-2014: 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 Sept. 21, 2016.

6 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.

1996-2014: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/ as of May 6, 2016.

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 2016.

8 U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts, table 25, available at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/art-public-reports.aspx as of Sept. 21, 2016.