This research employs stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to investigate the development of transport energy efficiencies of railway, highway, water and civil aviation transport in different stages. In addition, total factor energy efficiency indicator (TFEE), technology efficiency change indicator (TECH) and frontier technology change indicator (TPCH) are introduced to further analyze the technology gaps among thirty studied provinces in China from 2000 to 2018. The results indicate that the transport energy efficiencies in China decrease from 2000 to 2010, which mainly caused by regional technological gaps. On the contrary, the transport energy efficiencies increase from 2011 to 2018 owing to the technological improvement. Furthermore, the energy efficiency of railway transport is the highest among four transport modes. The energy efficiency of highway transport is relatively low although highway transport takes a large proportion of all the intercity transports. Therefore, in order to make the development of transport more sustainable, it is necessary to narrow the technology gaps among the provinces and adjust the transport volume of different transport modes rationally.