The usual focus of analyses of road transportation is on vehicle-distance traveled, without taking into account the number of passengers in the vehicle. In contrast, air-transportation analyses typically include passenger-distance traveled among the variables of interest. The present analysis examines the changes in passenger-distance traveled in both of these two transportation modes during a 45-year period from 1970 to 2015. Furthermore, the focus here is not on total distances but on distances per person, because the U.S. population increased by 57% during the period studied.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics was the source of the total passenger-distance information for both light-duty vehicles (cars, SUVs, vans, and pickup trucks; both short-wheel-base vehicles and long-wheel-base vehicles) and domestic operations for all four large certificated air-carrier groups (majors, nationals, large regionals, and medium regionals). The calculated average passenger-distances traveled per person are shown in the table below, along with the average occupancy rates from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
http://bioage.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c4fbe53ef022ad36d8513200c-popup. . .
