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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Maps and Data

Find maps and charts showing transportation data and trends related to alternative fuels and vehicles.

Average Per-Passenger Fuel Economy of Various Travel Modes

Intercity Rail Motorcycles Transit Rail Commuter Rail Airlines Cars Light trucks Transit Buses Demand response**
pmpGGE 50.053798767967145 49.545121951219514 48.442368839427665 43.34317211948791 43.12845010615711 34.44912379875636 33.27354627354627 28.73196605374823 7.790412272291467
Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Transportation Energy Data Book 30, Table 2.12.
Notes: *Fuel use is measured in gasoline-gallon equivalents (GGEs), representing a quantity of fuel or electricity with the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline. Rail is powered by electricity to a large extent.

** Includes passenger cars, vans, and small buses operating in response to calls from passengers to a dispatcher.

This chart shows average per-passenger fuel economy of various modes of passenger travel. Motorcycles achieve a high number of passenger miles per gallon, owing to very high fuel efficiency. Intercity rail, transit rail, and commuter rail all achieve relatively high values due to high ridership and energy efficiency of rail transport. Transit buses are not very efficient at their current ridership rates, where, on average, a given bus is less than 25% full. Demand response vehicles are the least efficient, because they need to use fuel just to get to the passenger.