Massachusetts Vehicle Census 2009 - 2014

Metropolitan Area Planning Council

A new resource for setting targets, designing policy,

and tracking progress toward GHG reduction goals

October 26, 2016

Massachusetts Vehicle Census

Anonymized dataset of all vehicles registered in MA,

with information about garaging location and annual VMT

Data download available now at:

http://data.mapc.org/datasets

Interactive maps and visualizations coming soon:

http://vehiclecensus.mapc.org

Vehicle Census ingredients: Vehicle registrations, inspection records,

EPA fuel economy ratings, census data

Annual mileage estimates based on odometer readings from successive annual safety

inspections & matched to geocoded registration addresses.

Vehicle Miles

Travelled (VMT)

per household

• <20 miles per day in

Inner Core

• >100 miles per day

in some remote

suburbs & rural towns

• Statewide value is

~48 miles per

household per day

Trends in

household VMT

• Statewide, VMT per

household declined by

~0.15 miles per year

from 2011 – 2014

• Most communities saw

steady declines in VMT

• Increases occurred in

outlying suburbs &

some Regional Urban

Centers

Fuel Efficiency

“Effective” MPG of MA passenger vehicle fleet (weighted by

miles driven of each vehicle) has improved by 1.5 miles per

gallon since 2009, even as vehicle fleet has aged.

7.2

7.4

7.6

7.8

8

8.2

8.4

8.6

8.8

9

9.2

9.4

18.5

19

19.5

20

20.5

21

Ave

rage V

ehi

cle A

ge

Mile

s per

Gallo

nEffective MPG, & Average Vehicle Age,

Massachusetts Vehicle Fleet, 2009 - 2014

Effective MPG Average Vehicle Age

Fuel Efficiency

Variation

• Municipal effective

MPG varies by >2 mi

• Route 2 Corridor has

most efficient vehicles

• South Shore vehicles

generally less efficient

Growing Alternative Fuel Fleet

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

q1

_20

08

q2

_20

08

q3

_20

08

q4

_20

08

q1

_20

09

q2

_20

09

q3

_20

09

q4

_20

09

q1

_20

10

q2

_20

10

q3

_20

10

q4

_20

10

q1

_20

11

q2

_20

11

q3

_20

11

q4

_20

11

q1

_20

12

q2

_20

12

q3

_20

12

q4

_20

12

q1

_2

01

3

q2

_20

13

q3

_20

13

q4

_20

13

q1

_20

14

q2

_20

14

q3

_20

14

q4

_20

14

Registered Electric Vehicles, Massachusetts2008 - 2014

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000

q1

_20

08

q2

_20

08

q3

_20

08

q4

_20

08

q1

_20

09

q2

_20

09

q3

_20

09

q4

_20

09

q1

_20

10

q2

_2

01

0q3

_20

10

q4

_20

10

q1

_20

11

q2

_20

11

q3

_20

11

q4

_20

11

q1

_2

01

2q2

_20

12

q3

_20

12

q4

_20

12

q1

_20

13

q2

_20

13

q3

_20

13

q4

_20

13

q1

_20

14

q2

_20

14

q3

_20

14

q4

_20

14

Registered Hybrid or Flex-Fuel vehicles, Massachusetts, 2009 - 2014

Since 2009, MA has added 50,000 hybrids,

1,300 electric vehicles

Hybrid &

Electric Vehicles

• Ownership of hybrid &

electric vehicles much

more prevalent along

Route 2 Corridor

GHG emissions

• Passenger vehicles

consume 5.96 million

gallons of gas per day,

emit 54 metric tonnes

of GHG emissions

(CO2 equivalents)

daily

Statewide GHG emissions

Trend in statewide passenger vehicle emissions 2011 – 2014:

decline of about 1.5% per year

51,000

52,000

53,000

54,000

55,000

56,000

57,000

58,000

Estim

ate

d D

aily

Em

issi

ons

, M

etr

ic T

onn

es

of

CO

2 E

qui

vale

nt

Passenger Vehicle Emissions, Massachusetts 2011 - 2014

Source: Massachusetts Vehicle Census, 2009 - 2014

Vehicle Census Small Area Estimates

Available for census tracts, block groups, 250m grid

cells; can inform transit planning, parking policy, etc.

Applications

Massachusetts Vehicle Census provides a

mechanism for setting informed targets for

transportation-related GHG reduction and

tracking progress toward those targets at

municipal or sub-municipal level.

• CAFE standards

• “Smart Growth” land use package

For more information:

Tim Reardon, Director of Data Services

Metropolitan Area Planning Council

treardon@mapc.org

The Massachusetts Vehicle Census was produced with funding support from:

In collaboration with:

Data download available now at:

http://data.mapc.org/datasets

Interactive maps and visualizations coming soon:

http://vehiclecensus.mapc.org