Figures for the transportation sector came from several sources.  A study conducted by Jeremy Raw, a transportation systems engineer for the city of Durham counted the number of vehicles traveling set distances within Chapel Hill city limits and extrapolated that data to calculate average traffic volume and average vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) in Chapel Hill annually.  Combining this information with data from the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce 2004 Handbook pertaining to bus ridership and commuter statistics, and information regarding fleet size, route miles logged, and fuel records from the Chapel Hill Transit Authority, we were able to determine per capita demand for energy specific to commuter vehicle.

We assumed two separate modes of motorized transit: (1) gasoline powered passenger vehicles with fuel efficiencies of 19.8 miles per gallon and (2) kerosene fueled buses maintaining 3.5 miles per gallon.  Our parameters included the assumption that any person would choose only one mode of motorized transport, not both.  From Raw’s data, we converted the VKT to vehicle miles traveled (VMT) then subtracted out the miles driven by buses to leave the remaining miles driven by cars.

    Next, we divided miles traveled by mpg efficiency based on vehicle type to find the number of gallons of each fuel that was needed to get the people of Chapel Hill to work everyday.  We converted the amount of energy each fuel type provides in to terms of energy content of distillate #2 diesel fuel and then in to million barrels of oil equivalents (MBOE).  Dividing the MBOE for each fuel type by the proportion of commuters utilizing each vehicle type and yields the annual per capita demand for energy in the transportation sector by fuel type.  Upon the summation of these two values we determined the total annual per capita demand for energy in the transportation sector.