Transportation Facts - Six surprising facts about how we get around.

1. In 2009, average U.S. households will spend about $4,400 on energy to power their homes and vehicles – about $2,200 on home energy costs and almost $2,200 on gasoline, estimates the Alliance to Save Energy.
2. The average family owns two cars.
3. Americans have been increasingly ”buying bigger" – from 1990 to 2006, the purchase of SUVs (sport utility vehicles) rose from 5.6% to 32.4%.
4. Not including the cost of the vehicle itself, Americans spend about 10% of their annual incomes on their vehicles, including gas, oil, upkeep, and related vehicle expenses.
5. There are about 240 million cars and trucks on the roads in the U.S. As a nation, we drive about 3 trillion miles each year!
6. In 2006, 68% of all oil consumed in the U.S. (13.98 million barrels of oil) was used for transportation.

(*Primary source for facts 2-6: Transportation Energy Data Book, 2007)