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FHWA Home / Policy & Governmental Affairs / Highway Statistics 2003 - FHWA

Highway Statistics 2003 - FHWA

ANNUAL VEHICLE DISTANCE TRAVELED IN KILOMETERS AND RELATED DATA - 2003 1/

BY HIGHWAY CATEGORY AND VEHICLE TYPE

JANUARY 2011( MILLIONS ) Table VM-1M
YEAR ITEM PASSENGER CARS MOTOR- CYCLES BUSES OTHER 2-AXLE 4- TIRE VEHICLES 2/ SINGLE- UNIT 2-AXLE 6-TIRE OR MORE TRUCKS 3/ COMBINATION TRUCKS SUBTOTALS ALL MOTOR VEHICLES
PASSENGER CARS AND OTHER 2- AXLE 4-TIRE VEHICLES SINGLE-UNIT 2-AXLE 6-TIRE OR MORE AND COMBINATION TRUCKS
  Motor-Vehicle Travel: (millions of vehicle-kilometers)                  
2003 Interstate Rural 212,467 2,057 1,600 132,712 13,401 71,723 345,179 85,124 433,960
2003 Other Arterial Rural 362,759 2,369 1,611 238,314 23,074 43,451 601,072 66,525 671,578
2003 Other Rural 358,046 2,475 2,912 228,930 24,116 23,225 586,977 47,341 639,705
2003 All Rural 933,272 6,901 6,123 599,956 60,590 138,399 1,533,228 198,990 1,745,242
2003 Interstate Urban 405,389 3,157 1,518 229,281 16,230 40,880 634,670 57,110 696,455
2003 Other Urban 1,352,109 5,354 3,273 754,389 48,304 46,234 2,106,499 94,538 2,209,663
2003 All Urban 1,757,498 8,510 4,790 983,671 64,533 87,114 2,741,169 151,648 2,906,118
2003 Total Rural and Urban 2,690,770 15,411 10,914 1,583,627 125,124 225,514 4,274,397 350,637 4,651,360
2003 Number of motor vehicles registered 5/ 135,669,897 5,370,035 776,550 87,186,663 5,848,523 1,908,365 222,856,560 7,756,888 236,760,033
2003 Average kilometers traveled per vehicle 19,833 2,870 14,054 18,164 21,394 118,171 19,180 45,203 19,646
2003 Person-kilometers of travel (millions) 6/ 4,251,702 19,574 231,425 2,745,706 125,137 225,566 6,997,408 350,703 7,599,111
2003 Fuel consumed (thousand liters) 7/ 285,626,899 725,070 3,667,857 229,994,237 33,616,201 90,151,177 515,621,135 123,767,378 643,781,440
2003 Average fuel consumption per vehicle (liters) 7/ 2,105 135 4,723 2,638 5,748 47,240 2,314 15,956 2,719
2003 Average kilometers traveled per liter of fuel consumed 7/ 9.4 21.3 3.0 6.9 3.7 2.5 8.3 2.8 7.2

1/ The 50 states and the District of Columbia report travel by highway category, number of motor vehicles registered, and total fuel consumed. The travel and fuel data by vehicle type and stratification of trucks, as well as related data, are calculated by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Entries for 2003 may have been revised based on the availability of more current data. Estimation procedures include use of the 1997 Census of Transportation Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey (VIUS) and independent analysis of light truck travel.

2/ Other 2-Axle 4-Tire Vehicles which are not passenger cars. These include vans, pickup trucks, and sport/utility vehicles.

3/ Single-Unit 2-Axle 6-Tire or More Trucks on a single frame with at least two axles and six tires.

4/ Urban consists of travel on all roads and streets in urban places with 5,000 or greater population.

5/ Stratification of the truck figures is made by the FHWA based on State-supplied data and the 1997 VIUS. Combination trucks represent approximately the number of tractors with semi-trailer(s) and a majority of heavy single-unit trucks used regularly in combination with trailer(s).

6/ As estimated by the FHWA using the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS).

7/ Total fuel consumption figures are derived from state fuel tax records and reflect latest available data. Distribution by vehicle type is estimated by the FHWA based on miles per gallon for both diesel and gasoline powered vehicles using State-supplied data, the 1997 US, and other sources as a baseline. Kilometers and liters were calculated uing SI metric conversion factors.

The data now on the website for 2000-2006 were estimated using a methodology developed in the late 1990s. FHWA recently developed a new methodology and used it for this year’s Highway Statistics. This methodology takes advantage of additional and improved information available beginning in 2007 when states were first required to report motorcycle data – before that time, the reporting was not mandatory and the data were missing for a few states. Also, the new methodology does not rely on data from the national vehicle inventory and use survey which provided critical data for the original methodology but was not collected in 2007 as planned.

In April 2011, FHWA recalculated the 2000-2008 data along with the 2009 data to estimate trends. However, after further review and consideration, the agency determined that it is more reliable to retain the original 2000-2006 estimates because the information available for those years does not fully meet the requirements of the new methodology. Thus, the original 2000-2006 estimates are now used, whereas the 2007-2009 data are still based on the new methodology.


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