Highway Transportation Energy Consumption by Mode, 1970-2006 (trillion Btu)

The highway sector is by far the largest part of transportation energy use. Lighttruck energy use has increased at the greatest rate, due to the increased use of light trucks as personal passenger vehicles. Light trucks include pick-ups, minivans, sport-utility vehicles, and vans.

Year	Autos	Light trucks	vehicles subtotal	Motorcycles	Buses	Heavy trucks	Highway subtotal	Total transportation a
1970	8,479	1,539	10,018	7	129	1,553	11,707	15,402
1971	8,926	1,685	10,611	9	125	1,621	12,366	16,022
1972	9,506	1,893	11,399	11	124	1,779	13,313	17,042
1973	9,800	2,103	11,903	13	122	1,965	14,003	17,893
1974	9,304	2,081	11,385	14	121	1,968	13,488	17,178
1975	9,298	2,384	11,682	14	124	2,003	13,823	17,414
1976	9,826	2,602	12,428	15	134	2,114	14,691	18,481
1977	9,928	2,797	12,725	16	137	2,344	15,222	19,116
1978	10,134	3,020	13,154	18	141	2,607	15,920	20,086
1979	9,629	3,055	12,684	22	144	2,697	15,547	20,088
1980	8,800	2,975	11,775	26	143	2,686	14,630	18,930
1981	8,693	2,963	11,656	27	145	2,724	14,552	19,066
1982	8,673	2,837	11,510	25	151	2,707	14,393	18,503
1983	8,802	2,989	11,791	22	152	2,770	14,735	18,621
1984	8,837	3,197	12,034	22	146	2,873	15,075	19,260
1985	8,932	3,413	12,345	23	154	2,883	15,405	19,595
1986	9,138	3,629	12,767	23	160	2,958	15,908	20,207
1987	9,157	3,819	12,976	24	164	3,061	16,225	20,670
1988	9,158	4,077	13,235	25	169	3,118	16,547	21,200
1989	9,232	4,156	13,388	26	169	3,199	16,782	21,492
1990	8,688	4,451	13,139	24	167	3,334	16,664	21,601
1991	8,029	4,774	12,803	23	177	3,402	16,405	21,193
1992	8,169	5,117	13,286	24	184	3,468	16,962	21,854
1993	8,368	5,356	13,724	25	183	3,577	17,509	22,308
1994	8,470	5,515	13,985	26	183	3,778	17,972	22,928
1995	8,489	5,695	14,184	25	184	3,937	18,330	23,467
1996	8,634	5,917	14,551	24	186	4,045	18,806	23,975
1997	8,710	6,168	14,878	25	192	4,086	19,181	24,329
1998	8,936	6,303	15,239	26	196	4,218	19,679	24,758
1999	9,134	6,602	15,736	26	202	4,638	20,602	25,948
2000	9,100	6,607	15,707	26	208	4,819	20,760	26,268
2001	9,161	6,678	15,839	24	196	4,813	20,872	25,959
2002	9,391	6,682	16,273	24	191	5,035	21,523	26,520
2003	9,255	7,551	16,806	24	189	4,895	21,914	26,673
2004	9,331	7,861	17,192	25	193	4,535	21,945	27,066
2005	9,579	7,296	16,875	24	196	5,088	22,183	27,527
2006	9,278	7,518	16,796	28	196	5,188	22,208	27,671
Average annual percentage change
1970–2006	0.3%	4.5%	1.4%	3.9%	1.2%	3.4%	1.8%	1.6%
1996–2006	0.7%	2.4%	1.4%	1.6%	0.5%	2.5%	1.7%	1.4%

 

Source: See Appendix A for Highway Energy Use.
a Total transportation figures do not include military and off-highway energy use and may not include all possible uses of fuel for transportation (e.g. snowmobiles). These data have been revised due to a new data series for recreational boats.

 

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