University uncovers personal expenditure of American on transportation comparison

Total transportation expenditures in 2016 corresponded to 15.8% of all personal expenditures, down from 18.9% in 1989. Meanwhile, analogous trends were present for the lowest and highest quintiles of income, according to a new report by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. The report is based on data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and performed by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labour Statistics.
October 3, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Total transportation expenditures in 2016 corresponded to 15.8% of all personal expenditures, down from 18.9% in 1989. Meanwhile, analogous trends were present for the lowest and highest quintiles of income, according to a new report by the 5594 University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.

The report is based on data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and performed by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labour Statistics. It compared expenditures for all households as well as those at two extremes of income in 1989 and 2016.

Other findings include a higher relative expenditure for gasoline and motor oil for the lowest quintile of income than for the highest quintile of income. Secondly, transportation accounted for the second largest budget category in both 2016 and 1989. Meanwhile, transportation expenditures relative to the expenditures for housing and food decreased. In addition, transportation expenditures for the lowest quintile of income were lower than food expenditures in both years, contrasting transportation expenditures for the highest quintile of income were higher than food expenditures in both years. Finally, transportation expenditure adjusted for inflation decreased by 11.3% from 1989 to 2016.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Progress on speeding ‘may be hampered by confusion on 20mph limits’
    July 5, 2017
    The percentages of vehicles exceeding the speed limit in free flow conditions on UK roads have declined slightly for most vehicle and road types between 2011 and 2016, according to statistics published by the Department for Transport.
    Read More
  • Pricing practise for HOT lane operation
    May 11, 2017
    Timothy Compston weighs up the critical elements that keep the wheels of dynamic pricing schemes turning in today's high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. In the drive towards smarter tolling it is perhaps not surprising that sophisticated pricing algorithms are being rolled out to better reflect supply and demand on the roadway. This is the case with high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes which a growing number of DoTs are seeing as a way of smoothing the operation of their existing, and planned, freeway infrastructure
    Read More
  • 2012 US Urban Mobility Report published
    February 8, 2013
    Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) have come up with a way to measure the unreliability of trip times due to traffic congestion. The Planning Time Index (PTI) illustrates the amount of extra time needed to arrive on time for higher priority events, such as an airline departure, just-in-time shipments, medical appointments or especially important social commitments. If the PTI for a particular trip is 3.00, a traveller would allow sixty minutes for a trip that typically takes twenty
    Read More
  • Is fare-free transit taking us for a ride?
    August 11, 2022
    More cities around the world are trialling fare-free public transit schemes. Do they work and are they sustainable? Andrew Stone puts absolutely no money on his travelcard and jumps on board
    Read More

Highlighted Content