Monthly fuel purchase logs from the residential energy consumption survey's household transportation panel (tp) were analyzed to determine the relationship between various household characteristics and purchase frequency, tank inventories, vehicle miles traveled, and fuel expenditures. Multiple classification analysis (mca) was used to relate observed differences in dependent variables to such index-type household characteristics as income and residence location, as well as sex, race, and age of household head. Because it isolates thenet effect of each parameter, after accounting for the effects of all other parameters, mca is particularly appropriate for this type of analysis. Results reveal clear differences in travel and fuel purchase behavior for four distinct groups of vehicle-owning households.black households tend to (a) own far fewer vehicles with less fuel economy, (b) use them more intensively, (c) purchase fuel more frequently, and (d) maintain smaller fuel inventories than do white households. Similarly, poor households own fewer vehicles with less fuel economy, but drive them less intensively, purchase fuel more frequently, and maintain smaller fuel inventories than do nonpoor households. Elderly households also own fewer vehicles with less fuel economy. But because they drive them much less intensively, their fuel purchases are much less frequent, and their fuel inventories are larger than those of nonelderly households. Female-headed households also own fewer vehicles but with somewhat larger fuel economy. They drive them less intensively, maintain larger fuel inventories, and purchase fuel less frequently than do male-headed households. This paper appeared in transportation research record no. 1155, transportation energy. for covering abstract see irrd no 818421.
Abstract