The Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the US DOT reports that the average cost of owning and operating a motor vehicle in 2003 was $0.53 per mile.

We spend over 18% of total household expenditures driving our cars.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics in the US DOT says:

"On average, households spent $7,825 on transportation in 2002. This represented 19 percent of all household expenditures that year. Only housing cost households more (33 percent)."

After subtracting about $300 for our spending on public transportation, over 18% of all American household expenditures each year pay for owning and operating our personal cars.

20% of our CO2 emissions is from driving our cars.

From chapter 2 of the fourteenth annual report of the DOE/EIA on The Emissions of Greenhouse Gases:

"Carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation sector, at 1,958.6 MMT, accounted for 33 percent of total U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2005. Almost all (98 percent) of transportation sector emissions result from the consumption of petroleum products: motor gasoline, at 60 percent of total transportation sector emissions; middle distillates (diesel fuel) at 22 percent; jet fuel at 12 percent of the total; and residual oil (i.e., heavy fuel oil, largely for maritime use) at 3.3 percent of the sector's total emissions. Motor gasoline is used primarily in automobiles and light trucks, and middle distillates are used in heavy trucks, locomotives, and ships."

So our personal cars were the source of 20% of total US energy-related CO2 emissions in 2005. They were 60% of the transportation sector, which itself accounts for 33% of the total.

86% of us drive to work alone

88% of us commute in a car, and 75.7% of us do it by ourselves. In other words, 86% of those of us who drive to work every day do it alone.

From the Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation A review of Journey to Work Trends from 1960 to 2000

And finally, for the real transportation junkies among you, here is some bedtime reading:

Our Nation's Travel: Current Issues

Commuting in America III

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