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BTS Home > Publications > National Transportation Statistics > > 2000

Bus Profile

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Financial	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	^R1998
Expenditures ($ thousands)
School bus	486,000^b	1,219,000^b	^R3,833,000^b	^R8,031,000^b	7,847,000^b	^R9,889,000^b	^R10,396,000^b	^R10,353,000^b	10,326,000^b
Operating revenues ($ thousands)
Intercity bus, class I	463,100^c	721,700^c	1,397,378^c	943,268^c	870,354^c	917,298^d	911,504^d	999,918^d	U^d
Operating expenses ($ thousands)
Intercity bus, class I	405,400	639,000	1,318,372	1,026,213	918,522	899,176	878,185	947,556	U
Inventory
Number of operating companies
Intercity bus, class I	143	71	61	31	27	28^d	27^d	U	U^d
Number of vehicles
All buses	272,129^e	377,562^e	528,789^e	626,987^e	670,423^e	685,503^e	694,781^e	697,548^e	715,540^e
Number of employees
Intercity and rural bus	40,500^f	43,400^f	37,900^f	26,100^f	23,600^g	23,800^g	23,800^g	^R22,200^g	24,400^g
School bus	N	N	79,900	111,200	125,900	131,100	132,200	^R136,500	141,000
Performance
Vehicle-miles (millions)
All buses
Rural highway
Interstate rural	N	339^h	533^h	567^h	683ⁱ	711^h	742ⁱ	794ⁱ	834ⁱ
Other arterial rural	N	944	991	995	1,154	1,134	1,201	^R1,243	1,282
Other rural	N	1,266	1,511	1,882	1,893	1,972	2,015	^R2,072	2,135
All rural	2,332^h	2,549	3,035	3,444	3,730	3,817	3,958	^R4,109	4,251
Urban highway^a
Interstate urban	N	277	560	455	627	580	598	647	663
Other urban	N	1,718	2,464	1,828	2,052	1,986	2,007	2,086	2,093
All urban	2,014	1,995	3,024	2,283	2,679	2,566	2,605	2,733	2,756
Total rural and urban highway	4,346	4,544	6,059	5,726	^r6,409	6,383	6,563	6,842	7,007
Passenger-miles (millions)
All buses	N	N	N	1,213,980	^r135,900	136,104	138,613	^R145,060	148,558
Number of revenue passengers (thousands)
Intercity bus, total	366,000^b	401,000^b	370,000^b	334,000^b	343,200^b	366,500^b	347,900^b	350,600^b	357,600^b
Average miles traveled per vehicle
All buses	15,970^I	12,035^I	11,458^I	9,133^I	9,560ⁱ	9,365ⁱ	9,446ⁱ	^R9,809ⁱ	9,793ⁱ
Fuel consumed (million gallons)
All buses	827	820	1,018	895	^r964	968	990	^R1,027	1,040
Average fuel consumption
per vehicle (gallons)
All buses	3,039	2,172	1,925	1,427	^r1,438	1,412	^R1,425	^R1,472	1,454
Average miles traveled per gallon of fuel consumed
All buses	5.3	5.5	6.0	6.4	^r6.6	6.6	^R6.6	^R6.7	6.7
Average revenue per passenger-mile (cents) (intercity)	2.71^b	3.60^b	7.26^b	11.55^b	11.61^b	12.19^b	12.30^b	^R12.45^b	12.48^b
Safety
Number of fatalities
School bus-related	N	N	150^k	115^k	105^k	123^k	136^k	131^k	128^k
School bus
Occupants	N	N	9	11	3	13	10	8	6
Other vehicle
Occupants	N	N	88	64	64	72	101	99	91
Nonoccupants	N	N	53	40	38	38	25	24	31
Occupant fatalities
All buses	N	N	46	32	18	^R33	^R21	18	38
School buses	N	N	14	13	2	^R12	^R10	8	6
Cross country buses	N	N	23	2	7	6	3	^R5	13
Transit buses	N	N	6	3	6	^R1	5	3	2
Other and unknown	N	N	3	14	6	14	3	^R2	17
Fatalities in vehicular accidents
All buses	N	N	390	340	286	340	297	343	334
Occupant fatality rate
Per 100 million vehicle-miles
All buses	N	N	0.8	0.6	^r0.3	0.5	0.3	^R0.3	0.5
Per 10,000 registered vehicles
All buses	N	N	0.9	0.5	0.3	0.5	^R0.3	^R0.3	0.5
Vehicle involvement rate
Per 100 million vehicle-miles
All buses	N	N	6.4	5.9	4.0	5.3	4.5	4.4	4.2
Per 10,000 registered vehicles
All buses	N	N	7.4	5.4	3.8	5.0	4.3	4.3	4.1

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

NOTE: See transit profile for transit bus data.

^aUrban consists of travel on all roads and streets in urban places of 5,000 or greater population.

SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, refer to chapter tables for sources.
^bEno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation In America, 1999 (Washington, DC: 2000), p. 42, 48, 50.
^cInterstate Commerce Commission, Annual Report of the ICC (Washington, DC: Annual issues), Appendix F, tables 1, 6.
^dU.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Selected Earnings Data, Class I Motor Carriers of Passengers (Washington, DC: Annual issues).
^eU.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table MV-10.
^fU.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours and Earnings, United States, 1909-1994 (Washington, DC: September 1994), SIC codes 413, 415.
^gIbid., Internet site www.bls.gov, as of August 18, 2000.
^hU.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics, Summary to 1985 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table VM-201.
^IIbid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1.
^jIbid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table VM-201A. Ibid., National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 1998, DOT HS 808 983 (Washington, DC: October 1999), Tables 74, 93.

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