Registrations and vehicle miles of travel of light duty vehicles, 1985--1995

Abstract

To obtain vehicle registration data that consistently and accurately reflect the distinction between automobiles and light-duty trucks, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was asked by FHWA to estimate the current and historical vehicle registration numbers of automobiles and of other two-axle four-tire vehicles (i.e., light-duty trucks), and their associated travel. The term automobile is synonymous with passenger car. Passenger cars are defined as all sedans, coupes, and station wagons manufactured primarily for the purpose of carrying passengers. This includes taxicabs, rental cars, and ambulances and hearses on an automobile chassis. Light-duty trucks refer to all two-axle four-tire vehicles other than passenger cars. They include pickup trucks, panel trucks, delivery and passenger vans, and other vehicles such as campers, motor homes, ambulances on a truck chassis, hearses on a truck chassis, and carryalls. In this study, light-duty trucks include four major types: (1) pickup truck, (2) van, (3) sport utility vehicle, and (4) other 2-axle 4-tire truck. Specifically, this project re-estimates statistics that appeared in Tables MV-1 and MV-9 of the 1995 Highway Statistics. Given the complexity of the approach developed in this effort and the incompleteness and inconsistency of the state-submitted data, it is recommended that alternatives be considered by FHWA to obtain vehicle registration data. One alternative is the Polk`s NVPP data (via the US Department of Transportation`s annual subscription to Polk). The second alternative is to obtain raw registration files from individual states` Departments of Motor Vehicles and to decode individual VINs.