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

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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
Air                                              
Certificated carriersa                                              
Jet fuel (million gallons) 1,954 3,889 7,857 7,558 8,519 10,115 12,323 11,506 11,763 11,959 12,384 12,672 13,217 13,563 13,335 14,402 14,845 14,017 12,848 12,959 13,623 13,789 13,458
General aviationb                                              
Aviation gasoline (million gallons) 242 292 551 412 520 421 353 354 314 268 266 287 289 292 311 345 (R) 333 (R) 279 (R) 277 (R) 272 (R) 273 255 262
Jet fuel (million gallons) N 56 208 453 766 691 663 577 494 454 464 560 608 642 815 967 972 (R) 918 (R) 938 (R) 932 (R) 1,231 1,255 1,289
Highway                                              
Gasoline, diesel and other fuels (million gallons)                                              
Passenger car and motorcycle 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 (R) 75,604 74,085 U
Other 2-axle 4-tire vehicle N e 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 (R) 63,417 65,419 U
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck 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 (R) 8,959 9,042 U
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 (R) 24,191 24,411 U
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 (R) 1,360 1,329 U
Transitc                                              
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 5,007 4,988 5,073 5,237 5,510 5,610 5,649 5,643 5,825 5,954 U
Motor fuel (million gallons)                                              
Diesel 208 248 271 365 431 609 651 665 685 679 678 678 693 717 740 763 786 745 725 713 731 730 U
Gasoline and other nondiesel fuelsd 192 124 68 8 11 46 34 34 37 46 60 61 61 59 53 49 48 46 57 46 53 58 U
Compressed natural gas N N N N N N N N 1 2 5 11 15 24 37 44 55 66 81 100 112 123 U
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 U
Amtrak                                              
Electricity (million kWh) N N N 180 254 295 330 303 300 301 309 304 293 282 275 283 350 377 U U U U U
Distillate / diesel fuel (million gallons) N N N 63 64 65 82 82 82 83 75 66 71 75 75 74 76 75 U U U U U
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 U
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 U
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 U
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 (R) 566,187 584,779 U

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

a Domestic operations only.

b Includes fuel used in air taxi operations, but not commuter operations. Data for 1996 are estimated using new information on nonrespondents and are therefore not comparable to earlier years. See the accuracy statement in the appendix for more detailed information.

c Prior to 1984, excludes commuter rail, automated guideway, ferryboat, demand responsive vehicles, and most rural and small systems.

d Gasoline and all other nondiesel fuels such as liquefied natural gas, methanol, and propane, except compressed natural gas.

e Included in single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truck category.

SOURCES

Air:

Certificated air carriers:

1960-2006: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Fuel Cost and Consumption, Internet site http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information as of Sept. 4, 2007.

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.

1994-2006: Ibid., FAA Aerospace Forecasts Fiscal Years 2007-2020 (Washington, DC: Dec. 2007), table 34 and similar tables in earlier editions.

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. (Revised data obtained from Internet site http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/ohimstat.htm as of August 2001).

1995-2005: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.

Transit:

Electricity / motor fuel / compressed natural gas:

1960-2005: American Public Transportation Association, 2007 Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington, DC: April 2007), tables 26, 27, 28 and similar tables in earlier editions.

Rail:

1960-2005: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: 2005), p. 40.

Amtrak:

1975-2001: Amtrak, Energy Management Department, personal communication.

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.

1985-2004: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables 2, 4, and similar tables in earlier editions.

Gasoline:

1970-2005: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table MF-24 and similar tables in earlier editions.

Pipeline:

1960-2005: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual 2005, DOE/EIA-0131(04) (Washington, DC: Nov. 2006), table 15 and similar tables in earlier editions.
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