Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Printable Version

Table 4-27: Annual Wasted Fuel Due to Congestion

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Population group Urban area Gallons wasted (millions) Percent changea
Short-term 1998-2003
Percent changea
Long term 1982-2003
1982 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Percent Rank Percent Rank
Medium Akron, OH 0.3 0.4 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.5 1.9 1.6 2.0 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.5 2.3 -7 79 783 26
Medium Albany-Schenectady, NY 0.4 0.5 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.8 2.8 61 5 691 33
Medium Albuquerque, NM 1.2 1.7 3.0 3.2 3.8 4.1 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.0 6.2 6.5 5.7 5.5 5.1 5.3 5.9 6.6 17 56 471 53
Medium Allentown-Bethlehem, PA-NJ 1.0 1.1 1.7 1.8 2.2 2.6 3.0 3.4 4.0 4.4 4.7 4.2 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.6 4.7 4 72 382 58
Small Anchorage, AK 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 13 63 66 85
Very large Atlanta, GA 10.0 15.1 24.8 28.4 33.4 39.8 47.6 52.9 57.7 64.8 72.1 75.3 79.9 82.3 88.0 90.3 92.7 96.1 20 48 856 25
Medium Austin, TX 1.4 2.4 3.7 4.2 4.1 4.6 5.6 6.7 8.0 9.2 9.2 10.4 11.1 12.9 12.9 13.5 14.0 15.5 40 28 1,022 18
Small Bakersfield, CA 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.4 1.5 1.9 2.1 105 1 1,804 3
Large Baltimore, MD 4.9 8.4 18.4 18.6 18.6 19.9 20.7 22.7 23.1 24.0 23.9 25.0 26.4 29.7 36.6 39.0 40.0 40.8 54 9 741 30
Small Beaumont, TX 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 45 24 339 63
Medium Birmingham, AL 1.2 1.7 2.1 2.3 2.6 3.1 3.8 4.1 4.6 5.1 6.2 6.5 6.5 6.6 7.0 7.6 8.1 8.2 27 39 610 42
Very large Boston, MA-NH-RI 10.9 16.3 28.9 29.7 33.0 33.8 34.9 35.3 36.8 40.3 44.4 45.0 46.0 48.2 53.6 53.6 60.1 62.5 36 30 474 51
Small Boulder, CO 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 2 74 330 66
Medium Bridgeport-Stamford, CT-NY 1.9 3.0 4.4 4.4 5.1 5.1 5.7 6.4 6.3 7.4 8.4 9.3 9.7 10.1 11.3 11.1 10.6 11.5 18 51 493 48
Small Brownsville, TX 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 33 36 935 20
Large Buffalo, NY 0.8 0.9 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.8 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.9 3.7 3.7 18 53 391 57
Small Cape Coral, FL 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.3 1.6 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.1 64 4 678 36
Small Charleston-North Charleston, SC 1.2 1.7 2.6 2.8 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.5 3.9 4.1 4.2 4.2 4.4 4.8 5.0 4.9 16 57 308 73
Medium Charlotte, NC-SC 1.0 1.9 3.2 3.4 3.9 3.7 3.8 3.9 4.7 6.0 6.9 8.2 9.9 10.8 12.5 13.0 14.3 14.3 45 22 1,274 12
Very large Chicago, IL-IN 24.3 37.6 60.6 62.4 64.9 65.9 68.0 79.2 90.8 92.3 98.9 99.6 96.3 100.7 119.5 125.0 132.6 141.6 47 19 482 49
Large Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 1.4 2.5 6.2 6.7 7.8 9.2 11.1 11.4 12.3 14.6 15.2 15.2 16.1 15.8 16.5 17.7 17.3 17.4 8 67 1,119 14
Large Cleveland, OH 1.4 1.5 4.2 4.8 5.1 6.3 7.2 9.0 9.7 11.3 10.6 11.3 10.6 9.3 8.7 8.5 9.7 8.8 -17 84 536 47
Small Colorado Springs, CO 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.2 1.4 1.5 2.0 2.4 3.0 3.5 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.4 4.4 25 41 1,503 9
Small Columbia, SC 0.3 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.7 1.9 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.4 27 38 688 34
Large Columbus, OH 1.0 1.5 4.8 5.0 5.8 7.0 7.9 8.9 9.7 10.6 10.9 11.0 10.7 12.0 12.7 13.9 15.7 15.5 45 20 1,511 8
Small Corpus Christi, TX 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.1 36 31 259 77
Very large Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 7.1 13.6 26.3 29.4 31.4 34.8 36.8 39.0 41.5 46.0 52.8 60.5 63.9 66.4 71.4 78.6 92.2 106.2 66 3 1,395 11
Medium Dayton, OH 1.6 1.8 3.0 3.1 3.3 3.8 3.4 4.3 4.3 4.7 4.8 5.3 5.0 4.5 4.4 4.2 5.1 4.6 -8 80 195 81
Large Denver-Aurora, CO 5.8 7.7 10.0 11.7 12.9 15.7 17.6 21.3 24.2 26.8 29.0 32.0 34.3 36.3 35.1 36.4 38.0 42.5 24 42 628 40
Very large Detroit, MI 21.8 26.8 47.6 50.9 57.4 61.0 58.4 58.3 61.5 63.6 64.9 68.3 67.1 71.4 75.6 78.1 77.2 76.1 13 62 248 78
Medium El Paso, TX-NM 0.4 0.5 1.0 1.3 1.6 1.7 2.1 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.4 3.2 3.7 4.2 4.3 4.5 5.4 5.7 54 10 1,518 7
Small Eugene, OR 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.1 14 60 301 74
Medium Fresno, CA 0.9 1.1 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.4 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.1 3.8 4.1 4.3 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.2 -2 77 338 64
Medium Grand Rapids, MI 0.5 0.8 1.6 1.7 2.3 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.9 3.2 3.8 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.4 4.4 12 64 760 28
Medium Hartford, CT 0.9 1.3 2.0 2.2 3.6 2.9 3.3 3.6 3.9 4.5 5.1 5.6 6.0 5.8 5.9 5.8 6.4 6.5 9 65 617 41
Medium Honolulu, HI 2.0 2.6 4.7 4.7 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.8 5.8 5.3 5.4 5.3 5.0 5.1 4.9 5.5 5.7 6.3 26 40 207 80
Very large Houston, TX 23.5 33.1 36.2 32.4 30.5 31.2 34.6 36.7 42.0 49.7 53.3 59.7 61.4 71.3 78.1 80.3 82.7 92.6 51 12 294 76
Large Indianapolis, IN 3.8 4.4 7.5 8.5 10.1 13.1 15.3 16.3 17.1 18.8 16.9 16.5 16.4 16.8 16.8 17.0 17.1 16.1 -2 76 323 68
Medium Jacksonville, FL 2.4 3.5 6.0 6.4 7.6 7.9 8.5 9.7 10.3 10.0 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.8 11.4 12.6 14.0 14.0 45 23 475 50
Large Kansas City, MO-KS 0.9 1.6 3.4 3.3 4.0 6.1 6.5 6.6 7.6 8.5 8.7 10.3 9.7 9.7 9.7 10.2 8.8 8.6 -11 82 877 24
Small Laredo, TX 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 43 26 1,724 4
Large Las Vegas, NV 1.0 1.5 5.0 5.9 6.7 7.9 9.4 10.6 11.5 11.9 13.1 14.3 14.7 15.6 16.9 18.4 19.6 20.0 36 29 1,835 2
Small Little Rock, AR 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.5 1.8 2.4 2.3 51 13 736 31
Very large Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 123.9 154.5 314.3 309.7 308.8 292.3 280.0 298.9 310.4 318.0 320.7 331.7 331.1 348.0 357.4 354.4 371.8 383.7 16 58 210 79
Medium Louisville, KY-IN 3.5 3.7 4.3 5.5 6.8 8.0 8.6 8.7 10.0 10.8 11.6 12.2 12.2 11.1 12.6 13.5 14.8 14.4 19 50 315 70
Medium Memphis, TN-MS-AR 1.1 1.2 3.4 3.5 3.9 4.6 5.6 6.3 6.7 7.1 7.4 7.4 7.9 8.4 8.7 9.5 10.1 9.2 17 54 746 29
Very Large Miami, FL 13.1 17.3 37.2 36.9 42.6 42.5 45.6 50.1 52.4 55.9 59.3 69.4 77.5 83.8 89.3 95.8 100.8 105.2 36 32 702 32
Large Milwaukee, WI 2.3 3.2 6.4 6.9 8.0 8.2 7.9 8.8 9.0 9.2 9.8 11.1 11.2 10.8 10.9 10.8 11.1 10.8 -3 78 369 59
Large Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 2.7 5.2 11.5 11.9 14.6 17.7 21.5 23.7 24.8 31.6 34.5 37.1 36.8 40.1 37.9 38.4 38.5 41.8 14 61 1,438 10
Medium Nashville-Davidson, TN 2.7 2.8 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.6 6.3 6.9 7.2 8.2 7.8 8.8 9.5 10.3 11.8 13.1 13.4 13.5 42 27 402 56
Medium New Haven, CT 0.5 0.8 1.2 1.3 1.6 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.6 3.1 3.6 3.7 4.2 4.3 4.3 3.8 4.2 15 59 681 35
Large New Orleans, LA 4.1 5.6 6.0 6.3 6.0 6.0 6.6 6.7 6.3 6.8 7.1 7.4 6.7 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.6 6.9 3 73 70 84
Very large New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT 37.2 47.2 94.9 92.1 92.6 99.2 109.7 122.4 130.5 147.2 153.1 173.5 163.3 163.4 173.5 194.3 224.5 242.0 48 17 550 45
Large Oklahoma City, OK 0.8 1.3 1.8 2.2 2.3 2.7 2.7 3.9 4.4 5.1 5.3 6.2 5.7 6.5 6.8 6.3 6.3 6.2 9 66 665 38
Medium Omaha, NE-IA 0.7 1.0 2.0 2.1 2.6 2.6 3.0 3.1 3.4 3.3 3.9 4.2 4.4 4.9 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.3 22 43 667 37
Large Orlando, FL 2.6 4.8 11.3 13.3 13.8 13.9 15.1 16.5 18.2 20.7 22.3 23.3 24.3 26.6 26.1 25.7 25.8 26.0 7 68 894 23
Medium Oxnard-Ventura, CA 0.5 1.0 1.9 2.0 2.5 2.8 3.7 3.9 4.5 4.1 4.3 5.3 5.4 6.3 6.7 7.1 7.8 8.4 54 11 1,534 6
Small Pensacola, FL-AL 0.3 0.3 0.8 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 48 18 931 21
Very large Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD 16.3 19.9 28.5 28.9 31.9 31.0 32.8 34.7 37.4 41.9 48.2 50.2 49.5 57.1 62.3 65.8 68.1 70.9 43 25 336 65
Very Large Phoenix, AZ 11.7 13.2 18.0 18.7 21.2 21.4 22.3 21.8 26.3 28.3 30.7 36.5 39.3 44.0 41.5 44.6 48.5 58.9 50 15 404 55
Large Pittsburgh, PA 4.4 4.9 8.1 8.0 7.6 7.5 7.5 8.9 8.9 8.9 8.5 9.4 8.8 9.2 9.5 9.3 9.6 9.2 5 69 110 83
Large Portland, OR-WA 3.4 3.9 7.8 8.4 10.5 11.5 12.1 13.9 15.9 17.6 18.2 20.0 20.0 20.6 19.9 21.3 22.5 24.0 20 47 600 44
Large Providence, RI-MA 0.9 1.1 2.7 2.9 3.2 3.7 3.9 4.1 5.1 5.2 6.9 8.0 8.6 9.5 10.3 11.5 11.9 11.7 36 33 1,181 13
Medium Raleigh-Durham, NC 0.7 1.3 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.9 4.4 4.8 5.2 6.2 6.2 6.8 7.6 8.2 9.4 9.9 10.8 11.7 55 8 1,579 5
Medium Richmond, VA 1.0 1.1 2.2 2.4 2.8 3.0 3.8 4.7 5.0 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.3 4.7 5.0 5.7 6.3 6.4 50 16 549 46
Large Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 1.3 2.7 11.7 13.9 14.7 14.9 13.1 15.0 16.4 16.2 18.8 20.9 21.4 22.2 24.9 29.3 36.7 39.6 85 2 2,916 1
Medium Rochester, NY 0.4 0.6 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.4 34 34 472 52
Large Sacramento, CA 2.9 4.5 12.4 12.9 12.5 12.4 14.1 14.0 15.9 15.1 16.3 17.5 18.6 20.4 21.9 24.7 27.7 29.2 57 6 914 22
Small Salem, OR 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 21 45 985 19
Medium Salt Lake City, UT 1.3 2.2 3.9 4.6 5.5 6.5 7.8 8.5 8.5 8.3 7.9 8.6 9.4 10.2 10.9 11.4 9.9 9.3 -1 75 604 43
Large San Antonio, TX 1.7 3.4 3.9 3.9 4.7 4.9 5.5 7.1 8.6 9.8 11.8 14.7 17.1 15.9 16.4 17.1 20.1 20.4 20 49 1,117 15
Large San Diego, CA 6.0 10.6 30.6 29.8 32.6 31.8 31.1 32.4 35.2 36.2 39.2 47.2 49.0 54.6 61.5 60.5 72.4 71.1 45 21 1,086 17
Very large San Francisco-Oakland, CA 22.6 43.2 72.1 67.7 69.0 70.9 67.0 73.0 75.6 71.4 77.1 78.8 83.3 81.8 87.4 89.5 93.3 100.5 21 46 345 62
Large San Jose, CA 8.7 15.1 24.3 24.9 23.2 22.0 23.6 26.0 26.2 25.6 28.0 32.7 33.3 34.5 33.8 34.4 32.1 34.7 4 70 297 75
Medium Sarasota-Bradenton, FL 1.1 1.8 2.0 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.6 3.1 3.4 3.5 4.1 4.0 4.2 4.4 4.7 5.1 5.3 33 35 369 60
Large Seattle, WA 6.3 12.2 32.6 35.4 37.8 40.5 41.6 43.3 43.9 47.8 48.7 48.8 46.3 45.4 46.5 50.7 50.6 54.7 18 52 768 27
Small Spokane, WA 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 -19 85 329 67
Medium Springfield, MA-CT 0.9 1.0 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.5 17 55 166 82
Large St. Louis, MO-IL 5.5 7.5 9.2 9.0 10.9 15.0 19.6 23.7 24.3 26.0 26.3 27.9 27.7 25.4 25.7 24.2 23.4 23.3 -16 83 322 69
Large Tampa-St Petersburg, FL 8.6 10.5 15.5 18.1 18.5 19.7 20.4 21.6 21.8 21.3 22.3 23.5 23.4 26.5 29.2 31.1 35.6 35.3 50 14 308 72
Medium Toledo, OH-MI 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 1.3 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.5 2.7 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.6 3.0 2.6 -9 81 1,102 16
Medium Tucson, AZ 2.6 3.0 3.8 3.7 3.9 4.0 3.9 4.1 4.4 5.7 6.1 6.3 6.7 7.4 8.1 9.5 9.5 10.5 56 7 310 71
Medium Tulsa, OK 0.9 1.8 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6 3.0 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.3 4.6 5.0 5.2 5.4 4.8 4.8 4 71 412 54
Large Virginia Beach, VA 3.7 5.5 7.9 7.8 7.8 8.2 9.9 11.5 13.5 14.5 15.3 16.2 14.1 15.8 16.8 16.9 16.7 17.1 21 44 356 61
Very large Washington, DC-MD-VA 12.4 24.8 42.0 47.0 55.6 58.5 61.4 63.7 69.0 68.8 67.6 72.6 70.7 77.6 83.7 88.9 90.3 90.9 29 37 634 39
NA 437-Area Average 1.3 1.8 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.8 4.2 4.5 5.0 5.3 5.6 5.7 6.0 6.4 6.2 6.4 6.6 15 NA 411 NA
NA 85-Area Average 5.4 7.6 13.9 14.2 15.1 15.6 16.3 17.6 18.8 20.0 21.1 22.6 22.8 24.0 25.4 26.5 28.2 29.6 29 NA 445 NA
NA Very Large Area Average 24.4 33.9 61.7 62.1 65.0 65.9 67.2 72.1 76.8 81.1 85.1 90.7 91.1 95.8 102.0 106.4 113.2 120.1 32 NA 393 NA
NA Large Area Average 3.2 4.8 9.3 9.9 10.6 11.6 12.6 14.0 15.0 16.0 16.9 18.5 18.8 19.8 20.7 21.5 22.8 23.4 24 NA 621 NA
NA Medium Area Average 1.2 1.6 2.5 2.7 3.1 3.4 3.8 4.1 4.5 4.9 5.2 5.6 5.8 6.0 6.5 6.8 7.1 7.3 27 NA 527 NA
NA Small Area Average 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 32 NA 536 NA

KEY: NA = not applicable; NM = not meaningful

Very large urban areas - over 3 million population.

Large urban areas - over 1 million and less than 3 million population.

Medium urban areas - over 500,000 and less than 1 million population.

Small urban areas - less than 500,000 population.

a Percent changes were calculated using the numbers in this table and were not obtained from the source. Rank is based on the calculated percent change with the highest number corresponding to a rank of 1.

NOTES

"Wasted" fuel is the difference between the fuel consumed under estimated existing conditions and the fuel consumed under free-flow conditions. Previous editions of this table were calculated on the basis of total fuel consumed during congested trips. Calculations are made for peak period speeds and for free-flow speeds on both the freeway and principal arterial systems. For a more detailed description of the formulas used, see the source document.

The urban areas included are those containing over 500,000 people and several smaller places mostly chosen by previous sponsors of the Texas Transportation Institute study on mobility.

Methodology and data sources have been changed in 2007 and applied retroactively to past years, these figures are not comparable to those in past editions of NTS.

SOURCE

Texas Transportation Institute, The 2007 Annual Urban Mobility Report (College Station, TX: 2007), Internet site http://mobility.tamu.edu as of Dec 5, 2007



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