Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Printable Version

Table 4-2
Number of Aircraft, Railcars, Vehicles, and Vessels

Excel | CSV

Mode 1980 1990 2000 2004
Air        
Air carrier 3,808 6,083 8,055 8,186
General aviation 211,045 198,000 217,533 219,426
Highway        
Automobiles 121,600,843 133,700,496 133,621,420 136,430,651
Other 2-axle, 4-tire vehiclesa 27,875,934 48,274,555 79,084,979 91,845,327
Buses (municipally owned transit and commercial, federal, and school buses) 528,789 626,987 746,125 795,274
Motorcycles 5,693,940 4,259,462 4,346,068 5,780,870
Trucks        
Single-unit 4,373,784 4,486,981 5,926,030 6,161,028
Combination 1,416,869 1,708,895 2,096,619 2,010,335
Rail-Passenger        
Amtrak-Cars 2,128 1,863 1,894 1,211
Amtrak-Locomotives 419 318 378 276
Commuter railcars and locomotives 4,500 5,007 5,498 P6,228
Transitb 10,654 11,332 12,168 P12,480
Rail-freight      
Class I-Freight cars 1,168,114 658,902 560,154 473,773
Class I-Locomotives 28,094 18,835 20,028 22,015
Other freight cars 542,713 553,359 820,642 814,147
Waterborne        
Nonself-propelled vessels (barges)c,d 31,662 31,209 33,152 31,296
Self-propelled vesselsc,d 7,126 8,236 8,202 8,994
Oceangoing shipsd (1,000 gross tons and over) 864 636 454 412
Recreational boats (numbered boats) 8,577,857 10,996,253 12,782,143 12,781,476

a Includes vans, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and other 2-axle, 4-tire motor vehicles that are not passenger cars.

b Includes light and heavy rail transit only.

c See Glossary for definitions.

d U.S.-flag vessels.

Key: P = preliminary

Sources: Except as noted, various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 1-11, available at http://www.bts.gov, as of October 2006.