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Table 4-5M: Fuel Consumption by Mode of Transportation

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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 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Air                                                              
Certificated carriersa                                                              
Jet fuel (million liters) 7,397 14,721 29,742 28,610 32,249 38,289 46,228 43,002 43,903 45,273 47,320 48,498 49,919 51,700 50,358 54,853 52,631 49,635 46,512 47,003 50,649 50,286 49,284 49,206 47,202 42,198 41,854 40,990 38,755 38,445 39,070
General aviationb                                                              
Aviation gasoline (million liters) 916 1,105 2,086 1,560 1,968 1,594 1,336 1,340 1,189 1,014 1,007 1,086 1,092 1,106 1,178 1,307 1,260 1,057 1,047 1,031 1,033 1,117 1,073 1,036 939 861 836 818 781 747 746
Jet fuel (million liters) N 212 787 1,715 2,900 2,616 2,510 2,184 1,870 1,719 1,756 2,120 2,300 2,430 3,084 3,662 3,679 3,477 3,552 3,529 4,659 5,779 6,218 5,624 6,457 5,477 5,431 5,513 5,432 4,768 5,186
Highway                                                              
Gasoline, diesel and other fuels (million liters)                                                              
Light duty vehicle, short wheel base and motorcyclec 155,849 188,222 256,950 281,078 265,683 271,414 264,067 244,163 248,425 254,554 257,707 258,424 262,781 265,335 272,175 278,207 277,375 279,180 286,413 286,352 286,194 293,778 284,776 340,883 325,843 326,075 330,146 334,474 335,388 335,429 338,040
Light duty vehicle, long wheel basec N U 46,610 72,229 90,078 103,580 134,802 144,667 154,933 162,209 166,982 172,632 179,255 186,953 191,019 200,093 200,395 202,602 209,031 229,994 240,060 222,844 229,719 139,721 132,207 135,179 137,225 133,756 132,922 133,090 141,359
Single-unit 2-axle 6-tire or more truckd N 52,420 15,021 20,517 26,206 28,008 31,635 30,934 31,180 32,131 34,190 34,887 35,617 36,249 25,805 35,477 36,200 36,595 39,068 33,616 33,912 35,966 37,295 61,757 64,895 61,523 57,147 53,811 54,421 54,896 56,379
Combination truck N 25,203 27,815 34,739 49,350 53,015 61,070 63,629 65,170 67,183 70,609 74,865 76,437 76,850 95,233 92,884 97,155 96,573 100,236 90,151 91,573 104,813 106,395 116,986 115,686 106,181 113,285 106,677 105,898 109,001 110,222
Bus 3,131 3,312 3,104 3,986 3,854 3,157 3,388 3,271 3,324 3,517 3,649 3,663 3,747 3,886 3,937 4,347 4,210 3,883 3,784 3,668 5,149 4,240 4,347 7,653 7,786 7,522 7,272 7,329 7,809 8,012 8,454
Transite                                                              
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 4,923 4,908 4,962 5,126 5,382 5,485 5,529 5,508 5,657 5,765 5,770 6,216 6,337 6,492 6,414 6,534 6,506 6,651 6,673
Motor fuel (million liters)                                                              
Dieself 787 939 1,026 1,382 1,632 2,304 2,464 2,518 2,593 2,568 2,567 2,568 2,025 2,041 2,122 2,180 2,236 2,256 2,551 2,102 2,061 2,015 2,062 2,032 2,028 2,491 2,395 2,365 2,321 2,304 2,053
Gasoline and other nondiesel fuelsg 727 469 257 30 42 174 129 129 141 173 227 230 96 97 84 80 89 98 131 97 108 110 116 112 119 371 369 383 385 404 411
Compressed natural gas N N N N N N N N 4 6 18 41 43 73 109 132 165 199 249 301 328 355 419 408 427 538 478 486 470 499 522
Rail, Class I (in freight service)                                                              
Distillate / diesel fuel (million liters) 13,109 13,597 13,419 13,843 14,778 11,773 11,792 11,000 11,375 11,689 12,621 13,173 13,548 13,533 13,563 14,063 14,006 14,044 14,120 14,483 15,365 15,513 15,868 15,376 14,710 12,083 13,226 13,949 13,627 13,938 13,957
Amtrak                                                              
Electricity (million kWh) N N N 180 254 295 330 303 300 301 309 336 363 390 416 443 470 456 518 537 551 531 549 578 582 565 559 555 549 525 515
Distillate / diesel fuel (million liters) N N N 238 242 246 310 310 310 314 278 274 270 286 288 300 359 367 320 282 260 248 236 234 240 234 240 240 239 250 250
Water                                                              
Residual fuel oil (million liters) 14,960 11,708 14,286 15,369 33,887 17,375 23,948 25,639 24,844 19,994 20,390 22,282 21,582 18,965 21,276 22,100 24,264 20,477 18,351 14,664 17,755 19,603 21,780 23,950 19,903 17,371 19,467 17,262 18,244 15,944 14,562
Distillate / diesel fuel oil (million liters) 2,979 2,468 3,100 4,156 5,595 6,431 7,816 7,745 8,398 8,157 8,288 8,854 9,429 9,743 9,823 9,158 8,560 7,738 7,870 8,392 8,099 7,592 7,204 7,283 7,508 7,241 7,582 8,076 6,694 6,344 6,030
Gasoline (million liters) N N 2,264 2,763 3,982 3,986 4,921 6,473 4,982 3,307 3,314 4,014 3,761 3,737 3,620 4,157 4,256 3,762 4,093 4,192 3,804 4,773 4,684 4,624 4,302 4,279 4,418 4,179 4,138 4,249 5,371
Pipeline                                                              
Natural gas (million cubic feet) 9,828 14,173 20,450 16,508 17,971 14,265 18,684 17,027 16,642 17,679 19,407 19,831 20,146 21,279 17,995 18,273 18,185 17,697 18,885 16,749 16,033 16,538 16,543 17,595 18,348 18,977 19,089 19,476 20,694 23,590 23,666

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 no respondents and are therefore not comparable to earlier years. See the accuracy statement in the appendix for more detailed information.

c Data for 2007-2013 were calculated using a new methodology developed by FHWA. Data for these years are based on new categories and are not comparable to previous years. The new category Light duty vehicle, short wheel base includes passenger cars, light trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles with a wheelbase (WB) equal to or less than 121 inches. The new category Light duty vehicle, long wheel base includes large passenger cars, vans, pickup trucks, and sport/utility vehicles with wheelbases (WB) larger than 121 inches. In addition, this edition of table 4-05M is not comparable to previous editions.

d 1965 data includes other 2-axle 4-tire vehicles.

e Data from 1997-2013 are not comparable to data before 1997 due to different sources. Prior to 1984, excludes commuter rail, automated guideway, ferryboat, demand responsive vehicles, and most rural and small systems.

fDiesel includes Diesel and Bio-Diesel.

gGasoline and all other no diesel fuels include Gasoline, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Liquefied Natural Gas, Methane, Ethanol, Bunker Fuel, Kerosene, Grain Additive, and Other Fuel.

NOTES:

The following conversion rates were used:

1 gallon = 3.785412 liters.

1 cubic foot = 0.028317 cubic meters.

SOURCES

Air:

Certificated air carriers:

1960-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Fuel Cost and Consumption, available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp as of Mar. 24, 2016.

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.

1994-2014: Ibid., FAA Aerospace Forecasts Fiscal Years 2015-2035 (Washington, DC: 2015), tables 23 and 31, and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/aviation_fo... as of Mar. 24, 2016.

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, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of June 29, 2010.

1995-2014: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table VM-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Transit:

Electricity / motor fuel / compressed natural gas:

1960-96: American Public Transportation Association, 2009 Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington, DC: June 2009), tables 26, 27, 28 and similar tables in earlier editions.

1997-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transportation Database, table 17 and similar tables in previous years, available at www.ntdprogram.gov as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Rail:

1960-2014: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), p. 43.

Amtrak:

1975-2014: National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), Energy Management Department and Government Affairs Department, personal communications, Apr. 27, 2011, May 8, 2013, Aug. 20. 2014, Sept. 11, 2015 and Jun. 20, 2016.

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.

1985-2014 U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/fuel_oil_and_... as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Gasoline:

1970-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table MF-24 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of Mar. 24, 2016.

Pipeline:

1960-2014: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Gas Annual, DOE/EIA-0131(04) (Washington, DC), table 15 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/natural_gas/data_publications/natural_gas_annual/... as of Mar. 24, 2016.