BTS | Table 1-9: Number of U.S. Aircraft, Vehicles, Vessels, and Other Conveyances

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Table 1-9: Number of U.S. Aircraft, Vehicles, Vessels, and Other Conveyances

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	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Air
Air carrier^a	2,135	2,125	2,679	2,495	3,808	4,678	6,083	6,054	7,320	7,297	7,370	7,411	7,478	7,616	8,111	8,228
General aviation^b (active fleet)	76,549	95,442	131,743	168,475	211,045	210,654	^R198,000	^R196,874	^R185,650	^R177,120	^R172,935	^R188,089	^R191,129	^R192,414	204,710	219,464
Highway (registered vehicles)
Passenger car	61,671,390	75,257,588	89,243,557	106,705,934	121,600,843	127,885,193	133,700,496	128,299,601	126,581,148	127,327,189	127,883,469	128,386,775	129,728,341	129,748,704	131,838,538	132,432,044
Motorcycle	574,032	1,381,956	2,824,098	4,964,070	5,693,940	5,444,404	4,259,462	4,177,365	4,065,118	3,977,856	3,756,555	3,897,191	3,871,599	3,826,373	3,879,450	4,152,433
Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicle	N	^g	14,210,591	20,418,250	27,875,934	37,213,863	48,274,555	53,033,443	57,091,143	59,993,706	62,903,589	65,738,322	69,133,913	70,224,082	71,330,205	75,356,376
Truck
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck	N	13,999,285	3,681,405	4,231,622	4,373,784	4,593,071	4,486,981	4,480,815	4,369,842	4,407,850	4,906,385	5,023,670	5,266,029	5,293,358	5,734,925	5,762,864
Combination truck	^h11,914,249	786,510	905,082	1,130,747	1,416,869	1,403,266	1,708,895	1,691,331	1,675,363	1,680,305	1,681,500	1,695,751	1,746,586	1,789,968	1,997,345	2,028,562
Bus	272,129	314,284	377,562	462,156	528,789	593,485	626,987	631,279	644,732	654,432	670,423	685,503	694,781	697,548	715,540	728,777
Total highway	74,431,800	91,739,623	111,242,295	137,912,779	161,490,159	177,133,282	193,057,376	192,313,834	194,427,346	198,041,338	201,801,921	205,427,212	210,441,249	211,580,033	215,496,003	220,461,056
Transit^c
Motor bus	49,600	49,600	49,700	50,811	59,411	64,258	58,714	60,377	63,080	64,850	68,123	67,107	71,678	72,770	^R72,142	^P74,228
Light rail cars	2,856	1,549	1,262	1,061	1,013	717	913	1,095	1,058	1,025	1,054	999	1,140	1,229	^R1,220	^P1,297
Heavy rail cars	9,010	9,115	9,286	9,608	9,641	9,326	10,419	10,331	10,245	10,261	10,138	10,157	10,201	10,242	10,301	^P10,306
Trolley bus	3,826	1,453	1,050	703	823	676	832	752	907	851	877	885	871	859	880	^P859
Commuter rail cars and locomotives	N	N	N	N	4,500	4,035	4,415	4,370	4,413	4,494	4,517	4,565	4,665	4,943	^R4,963	^P4,883
Demand response	N	N	N	N	N	14,490	16,471	17,879	20,695	23,527	28,729	29,352	30,804	32,509	^R29,646	^P31,884
Other^d	N	N	N	N	N	867	1,197	1,595	1,853	2,308	2,505	2,809	3,003	3,808	^R4,703	^P5,059
Rail
Class I
Freight cars	1,658,292	1,478,005	1,423,921	1,359,459	1,168,114	867,070	658,902	633,489	605,189	587,033	590,930	583,486	570,865	568,493	575,604	579,140
Locomotive	29,031	27,780	27,077	27,846	28,094	22,548	18,835	18,344	18,004	18,161	18,505	18,812	19,269	19,684	20,261	20,256
Nonclass I freight cars	32,104	37,164	29,787	29,407	102,161	111,086	103,527	97,492	90,064	88,513	86,120	84,724	87,364	116,108	121,659	126,762
Car companies and shippers freight cars	275,090	285,793	330,473	334,739	440,552	443,530	449,832	458,679	477,883	497,586	515,362	550,717	582,344	585,818	618,404	662,934
Amtrak
Passenger train car	N	N	N	1,913	2,128	1,854	1,863	1,786	1,796	1,853	1,852	1,722	1,730	1,728	1,962	1,992
Locomotive	N	N	N	355	419	291	318	316	336	360	338	313	299	332	345	329
Water
Nonself-propelled vessels^e	16,777	17,033	19,377	25,515	31,662	33,597	31,209	ⁱ	30,899	30,785	30,730	31,360	32,811	33,011	33,509	33,387
Self-propelled vessels^f	6,543	6,083	6,455	6,144	7,126	7,522	8,236	ⁱ	8,311	8,323	8,334	8,281	8,293	8,408	8,523	8,379
Oceangoing steam and motor ships
(1,000 gross tons and over)	2,926	2,376	1,579	857	864	737	636	619	603	565	543	509	495	477	470	463
Recreational boats^j	^R2,450,484	^R4,138,140	^R5,128,345	^R7,303,286	^R8,577,857	9,589,483	10,996,253	11,068,440	11,132,386	11,282,736	11,429,585	11,734,710	11,877,938	12,312,982	12,565,930	12,738,271

KEY: N = data do not exist; P = preliminary; R = revised.

^a Air carrier aircraft are those carrying passengers or cargo for hire under 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135. Beginning in 1990, the number of aircraft is the monthly average of the number of aircraft reported in use for the last three months of the year. Prior to 1990, it was the number of aircraft reported in use during December of a given year.

^b 1991-94 data revised to reflect changes in adjustment for nonresponse bias with 1996 telephone survey factors; 1995-97 data may not be comparable to 1994 and earlier years due to changes in methodology. Includes air taxi aircraft.

^c Prior to 1984, excludes most rural and smaller systems funded via Sections 18 and 16(b)(2), Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended. Also prior to 1984, includes total vehicles owned and leased.

^d Other includes aerial tramway, automated guideway transit, cablecar, ferry boat, inclined plane, monorail, and vanpool.

^e Nonself-propelled vessels include dry-cargo barges, tank barges, and railroad-car floats.

^f Self-propelled vessels include dry-cargo and/or passenger, offshore supply vessels, railroad-car ferries, tankers, and towboats.

^g Included in single-unit truck.

^h All trucks.

ⁱ Data for Jan. 1, 1991-June 30, 1991 included in 1990 figure.

^j Recreational vessels that are required to be numbered in accordance with Chapter 123 of Title 46 U.S.C.

NOTES: Transit motor bus figure is also included as part of bus in the highway category.

For more detail on oceangoing vessels, see table 1-19.

SOURCES:

Air:

Air carrier:

1960-65: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, 1970 (Washington, DC: 1970), table 5.3.

1970-75: Ibid., 1979 edition (Washington, DC: 1979), table 5.1.

1980-85: Ibid., Calendar Year 1986 (Washington, DC: 1986), table 5.1.

1990-94: Ibid., Calendar Year 1997 (Washington, DC: unpublished), table 5.1, personal communication, Mar. 19, 1999.

1995-99: Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Facts and Figures (Washington DC: 2000/2001), "Active U.S. Air Carrier Fleet".

General aviation:

1960-65: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, 1969 (Washington, DC: 1969), table 9.10.

1970-75: Ibid., Calendar Year 1976 (Washington, DC: 1976), table 8-6.

1980: Ibid., General Aviation Activity Survey, Calendar Year 1980 (Washington, DC: 1981), table 1-3.

1985: Ibid., Calendar Year 1985 (Washington, DC: 1987), table 2-9.

1990-99: Ibid., General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity Survey, Calendar Year 1999 (Washington, DC: 2000), table 1.2.

Highway:

Passenger car:

1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table MV-201.

1995-99: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

Motorcycle:

1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table MV-201.

1995-99: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicles:

1970-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table VM-201A.

1995-99: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

Single-unit and combination trucks, and buses:

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.

1995-99: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

Transit:

1960-97: American Public Transit Association, Transit Fact Book (Washington, DC: 1999), table 44.

1998-99: Ibid., Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington DC:2001), table 46.

Rail (all categories, except Amtrak):

1960-99: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts 2000 (Washington, DC: October 2000), pp. 48, 50.

Amtrak:

Passenger train-cars and locomotives:

1975-80: Amtrak, State and Local Affairs Department, personal communication.

1985-99: Ibid., Amtrak Annual Report, Statistical Appendix (Washington, DC: Annual issues),p. 47.

Water transportation:

Nonself-propelled vessels and self-propelled vessels:

1960-99: U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States, Volume 1, National Summaries (New Orleans, LA : Annual issues).

Oceangoing steam motor ships:

1960-99: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

Recreational boats:

1960-99: U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues).