National School Bus Fuel Data
The information below is the national data on how much gas and mileage is saved by children riding the yellow school bus as opposed to being driven to school by Mom and Dad. If you’d like to figure out the savings for your community and plug in the right amounts for your community, please download the fuel calculator.
| ASBC estimates the number of school buses in the U.S. to be | 480,000 |
| Average miles traveled per year per bus | 12,000 |
| Total mileage for all buses | 5,760,000,000 |
| School buses transport 26 million of the 50 million students who attend school each day (ASBC estimate) | 26,000,000 |
| The number of students transported by each school bus | 54 |
| Average number of students transported per car if a school bus is not available (ASBC estimate) | 1.5 |
| The number of cars needed to transport students currently riding on one school bus | 36 |
| The number of cars needed to transport students currently riding on all school buses in the U.S. | 17,333,333 |
| Average fuel consumption (mpg) for school buses (ASBC estimate, assuming large capacity buses, diesel engines) | 7 |
| Average fuel consumption (mpg) for private vehicles (gasoline engines). (see http://www.epa.gov/oms/fetrends.htm) | 20.8 |
| Average fuel use per school bus per year (gallons) | 1,714 |
| Total fuel used by all school buses per year (gallons) | 822,857,143 |
| Cost of diesel fuel per gallon (Source: Energy Information Administration, June 26, 2009) | $2.608 |
| Cost of gasoline per gallon (Source: Energy Information Administration, June 26, 2009) | $2.642 |
| Cost of diesel fuel per bus per year | $4,471 |
| Total cost of diesel fuel for all buses per year | $2,146,011,429 |
| Annual cost of fuel per child transported by school bus | $43 |
| Average distance from home to school for bus riders (ASBC estimate, miles) | 5 |
| Assuming 2 round trips per day for parents to transport students in private vehicle, distance per day per student | 20 |
| Length of average school year (days) | 180 |
| Average annual mileage to transport students from home to school and back in private vehicle | 3,600 |
| Cost of fuel for transporting one private vehicle making two round trips to school | $457 |
| Total daily car mileage saved by students riding school buses | 346,666,660 |
| Total annual car mileage saved by students riding school buses | 62,399,998,800 |
| Total annual car fuel savings by students riding school buses (gallons) | 3,119,999,940 |
| Total annual car fuel COST savings by students riding school buses | $8,243,039,841 |
| Total U.S. savings in fuel by students riding school buses (gallons) | 2,297,142,797 |
| Total U. S. savings in fuel cost per year by students riding school buses | $6,097,028,413 |