Pocket

Guide to

Transportation

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

2004
Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Our mission is to lead in developing transportation

data and information of high quality and to advance their 

effective use in both public and private transportation 

decisionmaking.

Our vision for the future: Data and information of

high quality will support every significant transportation

policy decision, thus advancing the quality of life and the 

economic well-being of all Americans.

For additional copies of this guide or information about

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Phone 202-366-DATA

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Mail: Product Orders

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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400 Seventh Street, SW, Room 7412

Washington, DC 20590

Information Service

Phone: 1-800-853-1351

Email: answers@bts.gov

January 2004
Bureau of 

Transportation 

Statistics

U.S. Department of

Transportation

Pocket Guide to

Transportation
U.S. Department of

Transportation

Norman Y. Mineta

Secretary

Bureau of

Transportation

Statistics

Rick Kowalewski

Deputy Director

William J. Chang

Associate Director for

Information Systems

John V. Wells

Chief Economist

Jeremy Wu

Acting Chief Statistician

Produced under the

direction of:

Wendell Fletcher

Assistant Director for

Transportation Analysis

Project Manager

Kay Drucker

Contributors

Felix Ammah-Tagoe

Jonaki Bose

David Chesser

Martha Courtney

Scott Dennis

Dorinda Edmondson

Marsha Fenn

Chester Ford

Lee Giesbrecht

Alpha Glass

Bruce Goldberg

Xiaoli Han

Getachew Mekonnen

Chip Moore

Long Nguyen

Lorisa Smith

Michael Szustakowski

Peg Young

Jie Zhang

Acknowledgments
1

Transportation Safety 4

Transportation System Extent and Use 2

Resident population (thous.) 226,542 288,369

Total area (thous. sq. mi.)a 3,619 3,718 (2000)

Total civilian labor force (thous.) 106,940 144,863

Real gross domestic productb $4.9 trillion $9.4 trillion

Median household incomeb,d $32,661 (1984) $38,186

Average household incomeb,c,d $34,189 (1984) $44,507 

Average household expendituresb,c,d $32,020 (1984) $36,626 

Number of households (thous.) 80,776 109,297

Life expectancy at birth (years) 73.7 P77.2 (2001)

a 1980 data include inland water only. Since 1990, data reflect a new database

and include inland water, coastal water, and Great Lakes, but exclude 

territorial water. The Census Bureau tabulates area data for the decennial

census years only. b Expressed in 1996 chained dollars (see Glossary for definition).

c Earliest year available is 1984. d BTS computations, December 2003.

Key: P = preliminary data.

Sources: Population, area, number of households—U.S. Department of

Commerce (USDOC), U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United

States: 2002, available at http://www.census.gov/, as of Oct. 2003. GDP—

USDOC, Bureau of Economic Analysis, available at http://www.bea.gov, as

of Dec. 2003. Median household income—USDOC, Census, available at

http://www.census.gov/, as of Oct. 2003. Average household income, average household expenditures, labor force—U.S. Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at http://www.bls.gov, as of Dec. 2003.

Life expectancy—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, available at

http://www.cdc.gov, as of Oct. 2003.

America’s transportation system continues to change

along with the population, work force, and economy.

The following table puts those changes in perspective:

Mobility 16

Transportation and the Economy 34

Transportation and the Environment 44

Glossary 48

Context 1980 2002

Transportation Security 10

Contents
2 Pocket Guide to Transportation

The U.S. transportation system is an extensive, interrelated public and private network of roads, airports,

railroads, transit routes, waterways, terminals, ports, and

pipelines. Millions of people and businesses rely on this

expanding system to get to work, embark on vacations,

conduct business, and ship goods within the United States

and abroad.This system links regions and connects small

and large cities and urban and rural areas.

1 Transportation System Extent and Use

Table 1

The Transportation Network: 2002

Highway Public roads

46,747 miles of Interstate highway

114,790 miles of other National Highway System

roads

3,820,134 miles of other roads

Air Public-use airports

5,286 airports

Airports serving large certificated carriers (2001)

29 large hub areas (72 airports), 445 million enplaned

passengers (see Glossary for "hub area" definition)

31 medium hub areas (52 airports), 95 million

enplaned passengers 

55 small hub areas (72 airports), 36 million enplaned

passengers

598 nonhub areas (622 airports), 16 million enplaned

passengers

Rail Miles of railroad operated (2001)

97,631 miles by Class I freight railroads in the United

Statesa

17,439 miles by regional freight railroads

27,563 miles by local freight railroads

23,000 miles by Amtrak (passenger)b

Mode Components
Urban transit Directional route-milesc

(2001) Bus: 160,506 (2000) 

Trolley bus: 467R

Commuter rail: 5,209

Heavy rail: 1,572

Light rail: 897R

Stations

Commuter rail: 986R

Heavy rail: 1,019

Light rail: 613R

Water 26,000 miles of navigable waterways (2000)

Ferry routes: 487 (2000)

Commercial waterway facilitiesd (2001)

Great Lakes: 600 deep-draft

154 shallow-draft

Inland: 2,367 shallow-draft

Ocean: 4,269 deep-draft

1,798 shallow-draft

Locks: 275

Pipeline Oil

Crude lines: 69,068 miles of pipe 

Product lines: 80,551 miles of pipe 

Gas (2001)

Transmission: 258,800 miles of pipe 

Distribution: 1,139,400 miles of pipe 

a There are also 311 miles of railroad operated by U.S. Class I freight

railroads in Canada and Mexico. b The Amtrak mileage includes the 730 miles of trackage it owns and routemiles operated on the tracks of the freight railroads. c Directly operated service. Does not include contracted service.

d See Glossary for definition of commercial waterway facilites.

Sources: Various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation

(USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National Transportation

Statistics 2002 (Washington, DC: 2002); Association of American Railroads,

Railroad Facts, 2002 (Washington, DC: 2002); USDOT, Federal Highway

Administration, Highway Statistics 2002 (Washington, DC: 2003); Oil & Gas

Journal, Sept. 8, 2003; USDOT, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit

Database, November 2003, tables 18 and 20; USDOT, BTS, Airport Activity

Statistics of Certificated Air Carriers, Summary Tables, 12 Months Ending Dec.

31, 2001 (Washington, DC: 2003); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute

for Water Resources, Navigation Data Center, The U.S.Waterway System

Facts, December 2002 (Alexandria,VA: 2003).

Transportation System Extent and Use 3

Mode Components
Large air carriera 146 1 39 92 P0

Commuter air carriera N 37 R6 5 P0

On-demand air taxia N 105 51 71 P35

General aviationa 1,310 1,239 767 R595 P576

Highwayb 52,627 51,091 44,599 41,945 42,815

Railroadc 785 584 599 512 596

Transit d N N 339 295 U

Commercial ship

Vessel 178 206 85 R49 P28

Nonvessele 420 281 101 R88 P48

Recreational boating 1,418 1,360 865 701 750

Gas and hazardous

liquid pipeline 30 19 9 38 10

a Includes people on planes and on the ground.

b Includes occupants, nonoccupants, and motor vehicle fatalities at railroad

crossings. c Includes fatalities from nontrain incidents as well as train incidents and

accidents. Also includes train occupants and nonoccupants except

motor vehicle occupants at grade crossings. d Fatalities resulting from all reportable incidents, not just accidents.

Includes commuter rail, heavy rail, light rail, motorbus, demand

responsive, van pool, and automated guideway. e Fatalities unrelated to vessel accidents, e.g., individual falling overboard

and drowning.

Key: N = data do not exist or are not cited because of reporting changes;

P = preliminary; R = revised; U = unavailable.

Source:Various sources, as cited in USDOT, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics, National Transportation Statistics (NTS) 2002, table 2-1 revised,

available at http://www.bts.gov. Recreational boating (2002)—U.S. Coast

Guard, Recreational Boating Accidents in the United States: Calendar Year 2002

Executive Summary, available at http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/ 

boating_statistics_2002.pdf, as of December 2003.

4 Pocket Guide to Transportation

The safety of the traveling public is of major concern 

for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Although

progress has been made in reducing fatalities, roughly 45

percent of U.S. deaths due to unintentional injury involve

transportation. Roughly 95 percent of these transportation

fatalities arise from motor vehicle crashes.

2 Transportation Safety

Mode 1970 1980 1990 2000 2002

Table 2

Fatalities by Transportation Mode
Passenger car occupants 20,320 45.2

Light-truck occupants 11,723 26.1

Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles 4,901 10.9

Motorcyclists 3,197 7.1

Pedalcyclists struck by motor vehicles 732 1.6

Large-truck occupants 708 1.6

Recreational boating 681 1.5

General aviation 562 1.3

Air carriers a

531 1.2

Railroad trespassers (excl. grade crossings)b 511 1.1

Other and unknown motor vehicle occupants 458 1.0

Other nonoccupants struck by motor vehiclesc 123 0.27

Waterborne transportation (nonvessel) 80 0.18

Grade crossings, not involving motor vehiclesd 76 0.17

Air taxi 60 0.13

Heavy rail transit (e.g., subway) 59 0.13

Waterborne transportation (vessel-related) 59 0.13

Bus occupants (school, intercity, and transit) 34 0.08

Private grade crossings, with motor vehicles 30 0.07

Railroad employees on duty and contractors 23 0.05

Light-rail transit 21 0.05

Railroad-related, not otherwise specified 13 0.03

Commuter air 13 0.03

Transit buses, not related to accidentse 6 0.01

Gas distribution pipelines 5 0.01

Passengers on railroad trains 3 <0.01

Gas transmission pipelines 2 <0.01

Demand-responsive transit, not accident-relatede 2 <0.01

Other counts, redundant with abovef

Large-truck occupants and nonoccupants 4,897

Public grade crossings, with motor vehicles 315

Transit buses, accident-related 89

Commuter rail 87

Nonoccupants in aviation accidentsa 11

Demand-responsive transit, accident-related 3

Total, all modesg 44,933 100.0

a For the Sept. 11 terrorist acts, only persons (245) aboard aircraft are

included. b Includes fatalities outside trains. c Includes all nonoccupant fatalities except pedalcyclists and pedestrians. d Public gradecrossing fatalities involving motor vehicles are included in motorvehicle counts. e Fatalities not included under highway submodes. f Fatalities at grade crossings with motor vehicles are included under

relevant motor vehicle modes. Commuter rail fatalities are counted

under rail. Transit bus and demand-responsive transit occupant fatalities are counted under “bus” and nonoccupant fatalities are counted

under “pedestrians,” “pedalcyclists,” or other motor vehicle categories.

g Unless otherwise specified, includes fatalities outside the vehicle.

Source: Various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau

of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics 2002, table 2-4,

available at http://www.bts.gov.

Transportation Safety 

Category Number %

Table 3

Distribution of Transportation Fatalities: 2001

5
Number Alcohol

of vehicles Fatalities involvement Percent

6 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Table 4

Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Crashes by Number of

Vehicles and Alcohol Involvement: 2002

Occupants 37,232 14,862 40

Single-vehicle crashes 18,564 9,170 49

Two-vehicle crashes 15,541 4,716 30

More than two-vehicle

crashes 3,127 976 31

Pedestrians 4,808 2,278 47

Single-vehicle crashes 4,404 2,054 47

Multiple-vehicle crashes 404 224 55

Pedalcyclists 662 244 37

Single-vehicle crashes 625 230 37

Multiple-vehicle crashes 37 14 38

Others/unknown 113 37 33

Total 42,815 17,419 41

Note: A fatal crash is considered alcohol-related if either a driver or a

nonmotorist had a measurable or estimated blood alcohol concentration of 0.01 grams per deciliter or greater. The National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration estimates alcohol involvement when test

results are unknown.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database, personal

communication, October 2003.
Transportation Safety 7

Figure 1

Fatalities in Alcohol-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes

Note: Some data may have been revised by NHTSA and thus differ from

last year's Pocket Guide.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Fatality Analysis

Reporting System (FARS) database, personal communication, September

2003.

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

Total fatalities in motor vehicle crashes

Fatalities in alcohol-related crashes

Number

1985 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002
8 Pocket Guide to Transportation

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001 1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001 1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Per 100 million vehicle-miles

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0 Per 100 million vehicle-miles

0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Per 100 million vehicle-miles

0

10

20

30

40

50

60 Per 100 million vehicle-miles

Passenger car occupants Light-truck occupants

Large-truck occupants Motorcycle riders

Notes: For air carriers, the data were smoothed, using an exponential model, with

a weight of 0.94 to reduce the year-to-year fluctuations.

For air carriers, fatalities resulting from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks

include only those persons onboard aircraft. 2002 data are preliminary.

Sources: Except as noted, various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of

Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National

Transportation Statistics (NTS) 2002 (Washington, DC: 2002), chapter 2. Air 

carriers and general aviation—USDOT, BTS, NTS, available at http://www.bts.gov,

tables 2-9 and 2-14.

Figure 2

Fatality Rates for Selected Modes

1980 1985 1990 1995 2002

Per 100,000 aircraft-hours flown

0

1

2

3

4

5 Per 100,000 aircraft departures

0

3

6

9

1980 1985 1990 1995

Smoothed

Actual

2002

General aviation Air carriers (actual and

smoothed fatality rates)
Transportation Safety 9

Air carrier 107 19 29 27 20

Commuter air

carrier N 14 11 7 0

On-demand 

air taxi N 43 36 12 13

General aviation 715 681 409 310 312

Highwaya N N R3,231,000 R3,189,000 2,926,000

Railroadb 17,394 58,696 22,736 10,424 9,939

Transit c N N 54,556 56,697 U

Commercial ship 

Vessel accidents 105 180 175 R130 157

Nonvessel 

accidentsd UU U R567 519

Recreational 

boating 780 2,650 3,822 4,355 4,062

Gas and hazardous

liquid pipeline 254 192 76 81 50

a Includes passenger car occupants, motorcyclists, light-duty and large truck

occupants, bus occupants, pedestrians, pedalcyclists, occupants of

unknown vehicle types, and other nonmotorists. b Injuries resulting from train accidents, train and nontrain incidents, and

occupational illness. Includes Amtrak. 1970 data are not comparable to

data for later years due to a change in the reporting system. c Injuries resulting from all reportable incidents, not just from accidents.

Includes commuter rail, heavy rail, light rail, motorbus, demand responsive, van pool, and automated guideway. d Injuries unrelated to vessel accidents, e.g., an individual getting a cut while

onboard a vessel.

Key: N = data are nonexistent; R = revised; U = unavailable.

Note: Each mode may use different reporting criteria for injuries.

Sources: Except as noted, various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of

Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National

Transportation Statistics (NTS) 2002, table 2-2, available at http://www.bts.gov;

and NTS 2003, forthcoming. Highway—USDOT, National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2002 (Early Edition), table 2, p. 15.

Recreational boating (2002)—U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Accidents

in the United States: Calendar Year 2002 Executive Summary, available at

http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/boating_statistics_2002.pdf, as of

December 2003.

Table 5

Injured Persons by Transportation Mode

Mode 1970 1980 1990 2000 2002
Persons screened

(millions) 993 1,145 1,263 1,812 1,320

Firearms detected 2,913 2,549 2,390 1,937 1,071

Handguns 2,823 2,490 2,230 1,643 1,008

Long guns (rifles) 90 59 160 294 63

Persons arrested

Carrying firearms/

explosives 1,310 1,336 1,194 600 362

Giving false information 42 18 68 61 90

Note: Includes operators with a U.S. Department of Transportation,

Federal Aviation Administration operating certificate engaged in scheduled passenger or public charter passenger operations, and airports at

which these operations are conducted.

Sources:

1985—U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), Semiannual Report to Congress on the Effectiveness of

the Civil Aviation Security Program, July 1– December 31, 1985 (Washington,

DC: May 1986).

1990–2001—USDOT, FAA, Office of Civil Aviation Security Policy and

Planning, Annual Report to Congress on Civil Aviation Security (Washington,

DC: Annual issues), and personal communications, May 27, 1999, Mar. 29,

2000, Aug. 7, 2001, and Sept. 13, 2002.

10 Pocket Guide to Transportation

1985 1990 1995 2000 2001

Table 6

Airline Passenger Screening Results

Ensuring security of all transportation modes and 

facilities and the people who use them is a national

priority. While much of the initial national focus after the

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was on aircraft and

airports, attention is also being directed at other modes,

including rail, water, highways, and pipelines. Another

security matter concerns U.S. dependency on foreign

sources of oil. The U.S. transportation sector remains

almost entirely dependent on petroleum as an energy

source and more than 55 percent of the petroleum used

in the United States is now imported.

3 Transportation Security
Transportation Security 11

Figure 3

Worldwide Civil Aviation Hijackings

Note:There were no hijackings in the United States from 1992

through 2000.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation,Transportation Security

Administration, Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation (Washington, DC:

August 2002).

0

10

30

50

Foreign registered

U.S. registered

Number of air carrier hijackings

20

40

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

Figure 4

International Piracy and 

Armed Robbery at Sea

Note: Incidents include attempts and threatening actions.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics, special tabulations based on United Nations International

Maritime Organization, personal communication, September 2003.

0

100

300

500

Number of incidents

200

400

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
12 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Total consumption

Transportation consumption

Total production

Million barrels per day

0

5

10

15

20

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2002

Figure 5 

U.S. Petroleum Production and 

Consumption

Note: 2002 data are preliminary.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Annual

Energy Review 2002 (Washington, DC: October 2003), tables 5.1 and 5.12c.
Transportation Security 13

Figure 6

Transportation’s Share of

U.S. Petroleum Use

Notes: Data for transportation, industry, and buildings are revised from

1984 forward and reflect accounting changes that result in more

accurate estimates of the petroleum actually used by those sectors.

2002 data are preliminary.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration,

Annual Energy Review 2002 (Washington, DC: October 2003), tables

5.12a–d.

1960 1970 1980 1990 2002

Transportation

Industry

Buildings

Utilities 0

5

10

15

20

Million barrels per day
14 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Figure 7

U.S. Oil Imports

Notes: OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) 

members are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria,

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

Former members Ecuador (until 1992) and Gabon (until 1994)

are included in 1990 and prior years.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration,

Monthly Energy Review, July 2003, tables 3.3d and 3.3h, available at

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/petro.html, as of August 2003.

0

1,500

3,000

4,500

6,000

7,500

Total OPEC Total Non-OPEC

Thousand barrels per day, average

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2002
Transportation Security 15

Table 7

Major Suppliers of U.S. Crude Oil 

and Petroleum Products

(Thousand barrels per day, average; rank in 2002)

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2002

Canada 455 770 934 1,332 1,807 1,971

Saudi Arabia 1,261 168 1,339 1,344 1,572 1,552

Mexico 533 816 755 1,068 1,373 1,547

Venezuela 481 605 1,025 1,480 1,546 1,398

Nigeria 857 293 800 627 896 621

United Kingdom 176 310 189 383 366 478

Iraq 28 46 518 0 620 459

Norway 144 32 102 273 343 393

Angola 42 110 237 367 301 332

Algeria 488 187 280 234 225 264

Colombia 4 23 182 219 342 260

U.S.Virgin Islands 388 247 282 278 291 236

Kuwait 27 21 86 218 272 228

Total,

major suppliers 4,884 3,628 6,729 7,823 9,954 9,739

Total, all 

U.S. imports 6,909 5,067 8,018 8,835 11,459 11,530

Note:The country of origin for petroleum products may not be the country of origin for the crude oil used to produce the products. For

example, refined products imported from western European refineries

may have been produced from Middle Eastern crude oil.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration,

Monthly Energy Review, July 2003, tables 3.3a–h, available at

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mer/petro.html, as of August 2003.
Passenger travel (2001)

Trips

Daily trips per person R4.1

Daily trips per person per yeara R1,483

Miles

Daily miles per person R40

Daily miles per person per yeara R14,524

Domestic freight transportation (2000)

Tons per person, annually 50.3

Ton-miles per person, annually 13,846

a Calculated on an annualized basis.

Key: R = revised.

Notes: Data used for passenger travel are from the National Household

Travel Survey (NHTS) travel-day file and include trips of all lengths

made by respondents on a single day; about 95 percent of these 

daily trips were 30 miles or less. Calculations are based on weighted

estimates from the 2001 NHTS.

Sources: Passenger—USDOT, Federal Highway Administration and Bureau

of Transportation Statistics, National Household Travel Survey, available at

http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/index.shtml, as of December 2003.

Freight—USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and U.S. Department

of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Commodity Flow Survey

(Washington, DC: 1999); BTS special tabulations, October 2002.

16 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Number

Table 8

Passenger Travel and Freight Transportation 

Per Capita

The U.S. transportation network makes possible a

high degree of personal mobility and freight activity.

The data in this section show growth in travel and

freight shipments over time. Factors influencing this

growth include, among others: greater vehicle availability,

reduced travel costs, population increases, congestion,

the economy, and consumer income.

34 Mobility
Mobility 17

Mode 1970 1980 1990 2000 2001

Table 9

Number of Aircraft, Railcars,Vehicles, and Vessels

Air carriers 2,679 3,808 6,083 8,055 8,497

General aviation 131,743 211,045 R198,000 217,533 211,446 

Highway vehiclesa 89,243,557 121,600,843 133,700,496133,621,420 137,633,467

Motorcycles 2,824,098 5,693,940 4,259,462 4,346,068 4,903,056

Other 2-axle,

4-tire vehicles 14,210,591 27,875,934 48,274,555 79,084,979 84,187,636

Trucks: Single-unit 3,681,405 4,373,784 4,486,981 5,926,030 5,703,500

Combination 905,082 1,416,869 1,708,895 2,096,619 2,154,174

Busesb 377,562 528,789 626,987 746,125 749,548

Passenger rail:

Amtrak—Cars N 2,128 1,863 1,894 2,084

Locomotives N 419 318 378 401

Commuter railcars

and locomotives N 4,500 4,415 5,073 P5,124

Transitc 10,548 10,654 11,332 12,168 P12,084

Freight rail:

Class I freight cars 1,423,921 1,168,114 658,902 560,154 499,860

Class I locomotives 27,077 28,094 18,835 20,028 19,745

Other freight cars 360,260 542,713 553,359 820,642 814,276

Nonself-propelled

vessels (barges)d,e 19,377 31,662 31,209 33,152 33,042

Self-propelled vesselsd,e 6,455 7,126 8,236 8,202 8,546

Oceangoing shipse

(1,000 gross tons 

and over) 1,579 864 636 454 443

Recreational boatsf R5,128,345 8,577,857 10,996,253 12,782,143 R12,876,346

a In July 1997, the USDOT, Federal Highway Administration, reassigned

some vehicles, e.g., sport utility vehicles, from “passenger car” to

“other 2-axle, 4-tire.” b Includes municipally owned transit, commercial, federal, and school buses.

c Includes light and heavy rail only.

d See glossary.

e U.S.-flag vessels.

f Numbered boats.

Key: N = data are nonexistent; P = preliminary; R = revised.

Sources: All data, except as noted—various sources, as cited in USDOT, BTS,

National Transportation Statistics 2002 (Washington, DC: 2002), table 1-11. Air

carriers 2001—Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Facts & Figures

(Washington, DC: 2003/2004),“Active U.S. Air Carrier Fleet.” 2001 Class I

rail—Association of American Railroads, Class I Railroad Statistics, available at

http://www.aar.org/AboutTheIndustry/AboutTheIndustry.asp, as of Oct. 2002.

Passenger rail 2001—Association of American Railroads, Railroad Profiles,

available at http://www.aar.org/AboutTheIndustry/RailroadProfiles.asp, as of

November 2003.
18 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Mode 1970 1980 1990 2000 2001

Air carriers 2,068 2,523 3,963 5,664 5,550

General aviation 3,207 5,204 4,548 aN aN

Passenger cars 916,700 1,111,596 1,408,266 1,600,287 1,619,422

Motorcycles 2,979 10,214 9,557 10,469 9,529

Other 2-axle,

4-tire vehiclesb 123,286 290,935 574,571 923,059 937,839

Trucks:

Single-unit 27,081 39,813 51,901 70,500 72,286

Combination 35,134 68,678 94,341 135,020 135,400

Busesc 4,544 6,059 5,726 7,590 6,986

Raild:

Transite 441 403 561 648 P662

Commuter N 179 213 271 P277

Class 1 freight 29,890 29,277 26,159 34,590 34,243

Intercity/Amtrakf 690 235 301 368 378

Other transitg N 15 324 833 P867 a

The Federal Aviation Administration has estimated vehicle-miles for general

aviation aircraft through 1997, relying in part on hours-flown survey

data.Vehicle-miles estimates for subsequent years are not yet available.

b In July 1997, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway

Administration, reassigned some vehicle-miles from “passenger car” to

“other 2-axle, 4-tire.”

c Includes municipally owned transit, commercial, federal, and school buses.

d Car-miles.

e Includes light and heavy rail only.

f Fiscal year data. Amtrak began operations in 1971.

g Includes demand responsive, ferry boat, and other transit not specified;

1980 data include “other transit” only.

Key: N = data are nonexistent; P = preliminary; R = revised.

Sources: Except as noted, various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of

Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National

Transportation Statistics 2002, available at http://www.bts.gov, table 1-32.

2001 air carriers—USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Air Carrier

Traffic Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual December issues).

Table 10

Vehicle-Miles

(Millions)
Mobility 19

Mode 1970 1980 1990 2000 2001

Table 11

Passenger-Miles

(Millions)

Air carriers 108,442 204,368 345,873 516,129 R486,459

General aviation 9,100 14,700 13,000 15,200 15,900

Passenger cars 1,750,897 2,011,989 2,281,391 2,544,457 2,574,882

Motorcycles 3,277 12,257 12,424 11,516 10,482

Other 2-axle,

4-tire vehiclesa 225,613 520,774 999,754 1,467,664 1,491,164

Busesb N N 121,398 160,919 148,113

Rail:

Transitc N 10,939 12,046 R13,412 14,108

Commuter 4,592 6,516 7,082 9,402 9,548

Intercity/

Amtrakd 6,179 4,503 6,057 5,498 5,559

Other transite N 390 841 1,631 P1,698

a In July 1997, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway

Administration, reassigned some vehicles from “passenger car” to

“other 2-axle, 4-tire.”

b Includes municipally owned transit, commercial, federal, and school buses.

c Includes light and heavy rail only.

d Fiscal year data. Amtrak began operations in 1971.

e Includes demand-responsive, ferry boat, and other transit not specified;

1980 data include ferry boat and “other transit” only.

Key: N = data are nonexistent; P = preliminary; R = revised.

Sources: Except as noted, various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of

Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National

Transportation Statistics 2002, available at http://www.bts.gov, table 1-34.

2001 air carriers—USDOT, BTS, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics (Washington, DC:

Annual December issues), p. 2, line 1.
Pocket Guide to Transportation

Table 12

Daily Travel: 2001

(Trips from one point to another on a single day;

most daily trips are local)

Notes: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Transit includes public bus, commuter bus and train, subway/elevated train,

and streetcar/trolley. Other includes air, intercity or charter bus,

intercity rail, ship, taxi, limousine, shuttle, or bicycle.

Family/personal business includes shopping, medical visits, picking people

up or dropping them off, banking, etc. Social/recreational includes visiting friends and relatives, going to the movies or other entertainment, vacation trips, or going to participate in sports activities.Work

(commute) trips are those to and from a person's place of work.

Work-related trips are those made for one's job other than to or

from the place of work, but do not include such occupational trips as

driving a taxi, bus, or delivery truck.

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Federal Highway

Administration and Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National

Household Travel Survey (Washington, DC: 2002); USDOT, BTS, National

Household Travel Survey 2001 Highlights Report, BTS03-05 (Washington, DC:

2003), tables A-10, A-11, and A-16.

Modal shares of daily trips

Personal vehicle (multiple occupant) 49

Personal vehicle (single occupant) 38

Walking 9

School bus 2

Transit 2

Other 2

Percent

Trip purpose

Family/personal business 45

Social/recreational 27

Work (commute) 14

School/place of worship 10

Work-related 3

Other 1

Average driving time

and distance

Female drivers 44 21

Male drivers 67 38

All drivers 55 29

20

Minutes Miles

per day per day
Mobility 21

Table 13

Long-Distance Travel: 2001

(Trips of 50 miles or more from home to the 

furthest destination)

Modal shares of long-distance trips

Personal vehicle 90

Air 7

Bus 2

Train 1

Other <1

Percent

Trip purpose

Pleasure 56

Business 16

Work (commute) 13

Personal business 13

Other 3

Share of trips by gender

Mode Women (%) Men (%)

Personal vehicle 42 58

Air 43 57

Bus 55 45

Train 42 58

Other 30 70

All modes 43 57

Notes: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Trip purpose—Pleasure includes vacations, sightseeing excursions, rest

and relaxation, visiting friends and family, or outdoor recreation.

Business includes conference and meeting attendence or any other

business purpose than commuting to and from work or such occupational trips as driving a bus. Work includes commuting to and from

work, but does not include such occupational trips as driving a bus.

Personal business includes medical visits, shopping trips, and trips to

attend weddings, funerals, etc.

Mode—Other includes ship, taxicab, limousine, shuttle, or bicycle.

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Federal Highway

Administration and Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National

Household Travel Survey (Washington, DC: 2002); USDOT, BTS, National

Household Travel Survey 2001 Highlights Report, BTS03-05 (Washington, DC:

2003), tables 4, A-18a, and A-24b.
22 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Figure 8

Origin and Destinations of Long-Distance 

Interregional Trips: 2001

Northeast

(65 million trips)

Midwest

(59 million trips)

South

(111 million trips)

West Midwest South Northeast

West

(45 million trips)

67%

25% 8%

66%

17% 17%

47% 44%

9%

41% 44%

15%

Region of trip origin Destination regions

to

to

to

to

Key: Census regions

Notes: Trips within the same region make up 89 percent of all longdistance trips. Only interregional trips are included in this figure.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics and Federal Highway Administration, 2001 National Household

Travel Survey, preliminary long-distance trip file, 2003.
Mobility 23

Figure 9

Modal Shares of Passenger-Miles by 

Length of Long-Distance Trip: 2001

0

100

200

300

400

100–299 300–499 500–999 1,000–1,999 2,000+ 

Trip length in miles

Billions of passenger miles

Personal vehicle Air Other

Note:Trip length is based on roundtrip travel distance.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics and Federal Highway Administration, 2001 National Household

Travel Survey, preliminary long-distance trip file, 2003.
24 Pocket Guide to Transportation

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1983 1990 1995 2001

13

9

8 8

34 34 33

32 31

38

40

37

19 19 19

24

Percent

0 vehicles 1 vehicle 2 vehicles 3+ vehicles

Sources: 1983–1995—U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT),

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Nationwide Personal

Transportation Survey, Our Nation’s Travel (Washington, DC: 1997).

2001—USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and FHWA, National

Household Travel Survey (Washington DC: 2003).

Figure 10

Households by Number of Vehicles
Total Total %

enplaned enplaned change

Airport Rank passengers Rank passengers 1992–2002

Atlanta (Hartsfield), GA 1 37,070 3 19,705 88.1

Chicago (O'Hare), IL 2 28,356 1 28,948 –2.0

Dallas/Ft.Worth,TX 3 24,072 2 24,671 –2.4

Los Angeles, CA 4 20,320 4 18,395 10.5

Denver, CO 5 16,054 6 13,595 18.1

Phoenix 

(Sky Harbor),AZ 6 15,897 7 10,787 47.4

Las Vegas 

(McCarran), NV 7 15,575 12 9,347 66.6

Houston 

(Intercontinental),TX 8 15,224 21 8,358 82.1

Minneapolis, MN 9 15,046 11 10,055 49.6

Detroit 

(Wayne County), MI 10 14,860 10 10,425 42.5

Newark, NJ 11 13,114 8 10,479 25.1

Seattle,WA 12 12,578 19 8,572 46.7

San Francisco, CA 13 12,250 5 14,208 –13.8

Orlando, FL 14 12,127 16 8,765 38.4

St. Louis (LambertSt. Louis), MO 15 11,765 9 10,436 12.7

Miami, FL 16 11,126 15 9,076 22.6

Philadelphia, PA 17 10,324 23 6,968 48.1

Charlotte (Douglas), NC 18 10,155 22 8,239 23.3

New York 

(John F. Kennedy), NY 19 9,930 20 8,468 17.3

New York 

(LaGuardia), NY 20 9,714 14 9,252 5.0

Top 20 airports 315,557 248,750 26.9

All airports 574,820 454,060 26.6

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics,

Office of Airline Information, Schedule T-3 data, special tabulation, Dec. 2002.

Mobility 25

Table 14

Top 20 U.S. Passenger Airports

(Thousands of enplaned passengers on large certificated air carriers)

2002 1992
Table 15

U.S.-Canadian Border Land-Passenger Gateways: 2002

(Thousands)

26 Pocket Guide to Transportation

All U.S.-Canadian land gateways

Personal vehicles 32,539

Personal vehicle passengers 70,008

Buses 161

Bus passengers 4,213

Train passengers 255

Pedestrians 1,082

Personal vehicles—top 5 gateways

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 7,570

Detroit, MI 6,857

Blaine,WA 2,385

Port Huron, MI 2,187

Massena, NY 1,163

Personal vehicle passengers—top 5 gateways

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 17,031

Detroit, MI 12,319

Blaine,WA 4,794

Port Huron, MI 4,189

Champlain-Rouses Point, NY 3,766

Buses—top 5 gateways

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 51

Detroit, MI 37

Blaine,WA 16

Champlain-Rouses Point, NY 10

Sault Ste. Marie, MI 9

Bus passengers—top 5 gateways

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 1,557

Detroit, MI 916

Blaine,WA 337

Champlain-Rouses Point, NY 283

Port Huron, MI 147

Train passengers—top 5 gateways

Blaine,WA 61

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 47

Champlain-Rouses Point, NY 34

Skagway, AK 30

Port Huron, MI 27

Pedestrians—top 5 gateways

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 819

Sumas,WA 64

Portland, ME (ferry crossing) 39

Calais, ME 35

International Falls, MN 24

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics, special tabulation, November 2003; based on U.S. Department

of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of

Field Operations, Operations Management database, as of August 2003.

Land gateway Entering the U.S.
27

All U.S.-Mexican land gateways

Personal vehicles 89,849 

Personal vehicle passengers 199,021 

Buses 309 

Bus passengers 3,926 

Train passengers 15 

Pedestrians 50,278 

Personal vehicles—top 5 gateways

San Ysidro, CA 16,442 

El Paso,TX 13,095 

Hidalgo,TX 8,136 

Brownsville,TX 7,897 

Laredo,TX 6,922 

Personal vehicle passengers—top 5 gateways

San Ysidro, CA 36,172

El Paso,TX 26,363 

Hidalgo,TX 17,614 

Laredo,TX 15,916 

Brownsville,TX 15,821 

Buses—top 5 gateways

San Ysidro, CA 97 

Otay Mesa, CA 65 

Laredo,TX 39 

El Paso,TX 32

Hidalgo,TX 32

Bus passengers—top 5 gateways

San Ysidro, CA 1,200 

Laredo,TX 757 

Hidalgo,TX 633 

Otay Mesa, CA 546 

El Paso,TX 351 

Train passengers—top 5 gateways

Eagle Pass,TX 7 

Nogales,AZ 2

Calexico East, CA 2 

El Paso,TX 2 

Tecate, CA 2 

Pedestrians—top 5 gateways

El Paso,TX 9,301 

San Ysidro, CA 7,903

Calexico, CA 6,895 

Nogales,AZ 5,912

Laredo,TX 4,648 

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics, special tabulation, November 2003; based on U.S. Department of

Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field

Operations, Operations Management database, as of August 2003.

Mobility

Table 16

U.S.-Mexican Border Land-Passenger Gateways: 2002

(Thousands)

Land gateway Entering the U.S.
28 Pocket Guide to Transportation

1991 2001 Percentage Annual

delay per delay per change growth rate

person person 1991–2001 1991–2001

Very large areas 24 32 36 3.1

Large areas 12 22 75 5.8

Medium areas 7 14 109 7.6

Small areas 4 7 76 5.8

75-area average 17 26 53 4.3

Table 17

Roadway Delay and Congestion Cost per Person

in Urban Areas: 1991 and 2001

Annual Roadway Delay per Person

(Hours per year)

1991 2001 Percentage Annual

cost per cost per change growth rate

person person 1991–2001 1991–2001

Very large areas 342 646 89 6.6

Large areas 181 449 148 9.5

Medium areas 99 290 193 11.3

Small areas 56 132 136 9.0

75-area average 250 517 107 7.5

Key:

Very large = over 3 million population (e.g., New York-Northern NJ).

Large = 1 million–3 million population (e.g., Atlanta).

Medium = selected areas with 500,000–1 million population (e.g., Memphis).

Small = selected areas under 500,000 population (e.g., Colorado Springs).

Notes: TTI estimates delay indirectly by using traffic volumes and methodology developed by the Federal Highway Administration for estimating

the effects of roadway incidents.

TTI estimates cost by taking into account fuel cost, value of time, and commercial vehicle operating cost.

Source:Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), 2003 Urban Mobility Report, “Base

Statistics for the 75 Urban Areas” spreadsheet available at http://mobility.tamu.

edu/ums/mobility_data; and personal communication, October 2003.

Annual Roadway Congestion Cost per Person

(Current dollars)
Table 18

Amtrak On-Time Performance Trends 

and Hours of Delay by Cause

Mobility 29

2000 2001 2002 2003

On-time performance

Total (weighted) 78% 75% 76% 74%

Short distance 

(<400 miles)a R82% 79% 80% 77%

Long distance 

(>=400 miles) R55% 52% 52% 53%

Hours of delay 

by cause

Amtrakb R23,337 27,822 26,575 25,711

Host railroadc R43,881 52,273 55,090 57,346

Otherd R3,176 3,741 4,266 5,355

Totale R70,396 83,837 85,932 88,413

a Includes all Amtrak Northeast Corridor and Empire Service (New York

state) trains. b Includes all delays when operating on Amtrak-owned tracks and delays

for equipment or engine failure, passenger handling, holding for connections, train servicing, and mail/baggage handling when on tracks of

a host railroad. c Includes all operating delays not attributable to Amtrak when operating

on tracks of a host railroad (e.g., track- and signal-related delays,

power failures, freight and commuter train interference, routing

delays). d Includes delays not attributable to Amtrak or host railroads (e.g., customs and immigration, law enforcement action, weather, or waiting

for scheduled departure time). e Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Notes: All percentages are based on Amtrak's fiscal year (Oct. 1–Sept. 30).

Host railroad is a freight or commuter railroad over which many

Amtrak trains operate for all or part of their trips.

Amtrak trips are considered delayed based on the following chart:

Trip length Arrival time

(miles) delay (minutes)

0–250 10

251–350 15

351–450 20

451–550 25

> 551 30

Source: Amtrak, personal communication, October 2003.
30 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Table 19

U.S.Airports with the Highest Percentage of

Arriving Passenger Flight Delays

(Percentage of scheduled flights canceled, diverted, or arriving

at least 15 minutes after the scheduled arrival time)

Delay Delay

Airport rank % rank %

Atlanta 

Hartsfield Int., GA 1 22.1 5 23.0

San Francisco Int., CA 2 21.7 12 19.7

Seattle-Tacoma Int.,WA 3 20.7 13 19.2

Ft. LauderdaleHollywood Int., FL 4 20.5 4 23.9

Philadelphia Int., PA 5 20.0 8 21.7

Las Vegas 

McCarran Int., NV 6 19.3 30 12.7

Miami Int., FL 7 19.2 11 19.8

New York JFK Int., NY 8 19.0 2 25.4

Chicago O'Hare Int., IL 9 18.8 14 18.9

Tampa Int., FL 10 18.5 15 18.3

San Diego Int., CA 11 18.5 22 16.4

New York

LaGuardia, NY 12 18.3 10 20.1

Portland Int., OR 13 17.9 23 16.3

Newark Int., NJ 14 17.7 1 26.6

Orlando Int., FL 15 17.6 17 18.1

Los Angeles Int., CA 16 17.4 9 21.3

Baltimore/Washington

Int., MD 17 16.9 20 17.7

Salt Lake City Int., UT 18 16.8 21 16.8

Cincinnati Int., KY 19 16.5 26 16.0

Phoenix, Sky Harbor

Int.,AZ 20 16.2 31 11.6

Notes: The 32 largest airports (of which only the top 20 are shown in this

table) each handled more than 1% of all domestically enplaned passengers in 2002. Data are collected from major carriers. American Eagle

data are excluded from the 2002 tabulations because 1992 data are

not available.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics, Office of Airline Information, special tabulation, November 2003.

2002 1992
Mobility 31

Table 20

Top 20 U.S.Water Ports by Shipment Weight

(Millions of tons shipped)

Total Total % change

Port Rank tons Rank tons 1991–2001

South Louisiana, LA 1 212.6 1 189.7 12.1

Houston,TX 2 185.1 2 131.5 40.7

New York, NY & N J 3 137.5 3 126.9 8.4

New Orleans, LA 4 85.6 6 60.9 40.6

Beaumont,TX 5 79.1 26 22.4 253.5

Corpus Christi,TX 6 77.6 7 59.1 31.4

Huntington-Tristate,

WV-OH-PAa 7 76.7 N N N

Long Beach, CA 8 67.6 10 52.9 27.9

Texas City,TX 9 62.3 13 43.3 43.8

Baton Rouge, LA 10 61.4 5 87.6 –29.9

Plaquemine, LA 11 60.7 8 53.8 12.9

Pittsburgh, PA 12 53.0 19 31.3 69.5

Lake Charles, LA 13 52.8 15 41.2 28.1

Los Angeles, CA 14 51.4 12 47.0 9.3

Valdez,AK 15 51.0 4 99.6 – 48.8

Mobile,AL 16 48.1 14 41.3 16.4

Philadelphia, PA 17 46.4 18 37.3 24.5

Tampa, FL 18 45.8 11 49.5 –7.6

Baltimore, MD 19 42.1 16 37.7 11.5

Duluth-Superior,

MN & WI 20 39.8 17 37.7 5.6

Total top 20b 1,459.8 1,250.7 16.7

a Huntington-Tristate,WV-OH-PA, is a newly defined port since the release of

the 1991 data. b For purposes of comparison, Huntington-Tristate,WVOH-PA, is excluded.

Key: N = data are nonexistent.

Sources: 1991––U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the

United States, Calendar Years 1991 and 1992, Part 5, National Summaries (New

Orleans, LA: 1993), table 5-2.

2001—U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the United

States, Calendar Year 2001, Part 5, National Summaries, available at

http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/ndc/wcsc/wcsc.htm, table 5-2.

2001 1991
Table 21

U.S. Domestic Freight Shipments by Mode:

Preliminary 2002

(Commodity Flow Survey data only)

32 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Total 8,483 11,573 3,204 

Truck (for-hire and private) 6,200 7,622 1,311 

Rail 320 1,817 1,199 

Water 91 714 323 

Air (includes 

truck and air) 279 4 6 

Pipelinea 162 722 S

Intermodal totalb 1,111 198 215 

Parcel, postal, and 

courier services 1,022 26 21 

Truck and rail S S S 

Other intermodal

combinations 26 131 147 

Unknown 319 496 77 

a Estimates of pipeline exclude shipments of crude petroleum.

b Includes a combination of parcel, postal, and courier services; truck and

rail; and other intermodal combinations, including truck and water and

rail and water. Excludes truck and air combination, which is added to

air transportation.

Key: S = withheld due to high sampling variability or poor response quality.

Note:The data presented in this table exclude shipments from the following

establishments classified in the North American Industry Classification

System (NAICS) as: farms, forestry, logging, fisheries, construction, publishing, and crude petroleum production; households; governments; and

most retail and service businesses. Also excluded are most imports

and commodities shipped from a foreign location to another foreign

destination that pass through the United States.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, “2002

Economic Census:Transportation Commodity Flow Survey, Preliminary

Report,” December 2003.

Value Tons Ton-miles

Mode (billions) (millions) (billions)
Mobility

Figure 11

Growth Trends of U.S. Domestic Freight 

Ton-Miles by Mode: 1980–2001

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

0

100

200

300

50

150

250

350

Index: 1980 = 100

Air carrier

Truck

Rail

Oil and gas 

pipelines

Water

Sources: Air, oil pipeline, and water—U.S. Department of Transportation

(USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), National Transportation

Statistics 2002, table 1-44 revised, available at http://www.bts.gov, as of

October 2003. Truck—BTS calculation based on USDOT, BTS,

Transportation Statistics Annual Report 2000 (Washington, DC: 2001), p. 124,

table 2; USDOT, BTS, U.S. International Trade and Freight Transportation Trends

(Washington, DC: 2003), figure 14; USDOT, BTS, Maritime Trade and

Transportation 2002 (Washington, DC: 2002), table 1-20; USDOT, Federal

Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2001 (Washington DC: 2002),

table VM-1. Rail—Surface Transportation Board, Carload Waybill Sample;

BTS calculation based on Transport Canada, Transportation in Canada

(Ottawa, Ontario: Annual issues), table 12-1; American Association of

Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: 1991 and 2001), p. 36. Gas

pipeline—BTS calculation based on U.S. Department of Energy, Energy

Information Agency, Annual Energy Review 2001, table 6.5, and International

Energy Annual 2001, table C-1, both available at http://www.eia.doe.gov, as

of December 2003.

33
34 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Transportation is a major sector of the U.S. economy.

It moves people and goods, employs millions of

workers, generates revenue, and consumes resources 

and services produced by other sectors of the economy.

In 2001, transportation-related goods and services contributed $1,047 billion to a $10.08 trillion U.S. Gross

Domestic Product.

Figure 12

U.S. Gross Domestic Product by 

Major Societal Function: 2001

Housing

(24.3%)

Health care

 (15.3%)

 Food

(12.2%)

Transportation-

 relateda

 (10.2%)

Education

 (7.5%)

Recreation

 (6.9%)

 Otherb

(23.5%)

a Includes all consumer and government purchases of goods (e.g., vehicles

and fuel) and services (e.g., auto insurance) and exports related to

transportation. b Includes all other categories (e.g., entertainment, personal care products and services, and payments to pension plans).

Source: USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, calculated from data in

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Survey of

Current Business, October 2002.

5 Transportation and the Economy
35

Average income (before taxes) $49,430

Average annual expenditures $40,677

Apparel and

services

(4%) Othera

(15%) Personal

insurance 

and pensions

(10%)

Health 

care

(6%)

Housing

(33%)

Food 

(13%)

Transportation

(19%) 

$7,759 

Private vehicle expenditures = $7,371

Vehicle purchases = $3,665

Gasoline and motor oil = $1,235

Other vehicle expenditures = $2,471

Public transportation 

expenditures = $389

Airline fares = $244

Mass transit fares = $50

Ship fares = $30

Taxi fares = $25

Intercity train fares = $16

Local transportation on

out-of-town trips = $11

Intercity bus fares = $11

School buses = $2

Transportation and the Economy

Figure 13

Average Household Expenditures by

Major Spending Category: 2002

(Current dollars)

a Includes entertainment, personal care products and services, education,

tobacco products and smoking, and miscellaneous.

Note: Numbers do not add to totals due to rounding.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer

Expenditure Survey, 2003; and personal communication, December 2003.
36 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Total 693,257 100.0 1,163,549 100.0 1,856,806 100.0

Water 191,062 27.6 538,065 46.2 729,127 39.3

Air 225,322 32.5 273,176 23.5 498,498 26.8

Truck 189,184 27.3 208,579 17.9 397,763 21.4

Rail 24,117 3.5 67,758 5.8 91,875 4.9

Pipeline 742 0.1 21,833 1.9 22,575 1.2

Other,

unknown, &

miscellaneous 62,830 9.1 54,139 4.7 116,969 6.3

Notes: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Water—Excludes intransit data (merchandise shipped from one foreign country to another via a U.S. water port).

Imports—Excludes imports valued at less than $1,250. Import value is based

on U.S. general imports, customs value basis.

Exports—Excludes exports valued at less than $2,500. Export value is FAS 

(free alongside ship) and represents the value of exports at the port of

export, including the transaction price and inland freight, insurance, and

other charges.

Sources: Compiled by U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of

Transportation Statistics (BTS), May 2003. Water and air data—U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division, U.S. Exports of

Merchandise, CD-ROM and U.S. Imports of Merchandise, CD-ROM, December

2002. Total, truck, rail, pipeline, other and unknown data—USDOT, BTS,

Transborder Surface Freight Data 2003.

Table 22

Value of U.S. International Merchandise Trade by

Mode of Transportation: 2002

(Millions of current U.S. dollars)

Modal Modal Total Total

Exports % Imports % trade modal %
Transportation and the Economy

Total 477,075 100.0 1,153,011 100.0 1,630,087 100.0

Waterb 349,835 73.3 897,128 77.8 1,246,963 76.5

Air 2,549 0.5 3,921 0.3 6,470 0.4

Truck 91,436 19.2 96,344 8.4 187,780 11.5

Rail 24,858 5.2 78,036 6.8 102,894 6.3

Pipeline 5,822 1.2 74,826 6.5 80,648 4.9

Other,

unknown, &

miscellaneous 2,576 0.5 2,757 0.2 5,332 0.3

a BTS estimated the export weight for truck, rail, pipeline, and other and

unknown based on value-to-weight ratios from the import data.This was

necessary, because export weights for surface modes are not currently

reported.Weight for water and air exports and imports are from U.S.

Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. b Weight data for water transportation vary from those officially reported by

the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, because the data in this table exclude

intransit shipments (merchandise shipped from one foreign country to

another via a U.S. port but not part of U.S. official merchandise trade).

BTS uses Census Bureau trade-based data to allow for a complete modal

comparison among the different freight transportation modes.

Notes: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. Excludes intransit

data.

Water—Excludes intransit data (merchandise shipped from one foreign 

country to another via a U.S. water port).

Imports—Excludes imports valued at less than $1,250. Import value is based

on U.S. general imports, customs value basis.

Exports—Excludes exports valued at less than $2,500. Export value is FAS

(free alongside ship) and represents the value of exports at the port of

export, including the transaction price and inland freight, insurance, and

other charges.

Sources: Compiled by U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of

Transportation Statistics (BTS), October 2003. Water and air data—U.S.

Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division, U.S.

Exports of Merchandise, CD-ROM and U.S. Imports of Merchandise, CD-ROM,

December 2002. Total, truck, rail, pipeline, other and unknown data—USDOT,

BTS,Transborder Surface Freight Data 2003; and special calculation, Oct. 2003.

Table 23

Weight of U.S. International Merchandise 

Trade by Mode of Transportation: 2002

(Thousands of short tons)

Modal Modal Total Total

Exportsa % Imports % tradea modal %

37
38 Pocket Guide to Transportation

NAFTA trade, totala 100.0 100.0 

Truck 65.9 31.2

Rail 15.2 17.1

Pipeline 3.7 13.4

Air 5.0 0.1

Water 5.4 37.9

Other and unknown 4.7 0.2

U.S.-NAFTA imports, total 100.0 100.0 

Truck 60.4 22.9

Rail 19.6 18.6

Pipeline 6.3 17.8

Air 3.5 0.0

Water 7.0 40.6

Other and unknown 3.2 0.1

U.S.-NAFTA exports, totala 100.0 100.0 

Truck 73.2 50.6 

Rail 9.3 13.8 

Pipeline 0.3 3.2 

Air 7.0 0.2 

Water 3.4 31.8 

Other and unknown 6.8 0.4

a BTS estimated the export weight for truck, rail, pipeline, and other and

unknown based on value-to-weight ratios from the import data.This

was necessary, because export weights for surface modes are not

currently reported.Weight for water and air exports and imports

are from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau.

Note: Value based on millions of U.S. dollars; weight based on millions of

short tons.

Sources: Compiled by U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT),

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), October 2003. Water and air

data—U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade

Division, U.S. Exports of Merchandise, CD-ROM and U.S. Imports of

Merchandise, CD-ROM, December 2002. Total, truck, rail, pipeline, other

and unknown data—USDOT, BTS,Transborder Surface Freight Data 2002;

and special calculation, October 2003.

Value Weight

Mode (percent) (percent)

Table 24

U.S. Merchandise Trade with Canada and 

Mexico by Mode Share: 2002
Transportation and the Economy 39

Table 25

Top 20 Foreign Trade Freight Gateways by 

Value of Shipments: 2002

(Billions of current dollars)

1 JFK International, NY (a) 44.0 68.7 112.7

2 Los Angeles, CA (w) 16.4 93.9 110.3

3 Detroit, MI (l) 56.2 44.7 100.9

4 New York, NY and NJ (w) 22.6 68.9 91.5

5 Long Beach, CA (w) 15.1 73.7 88.8

6 Laredo,TX (l) 32.3 46.9 79.3

7 Los Angeles 

Internatl. Airport, CA (a) 31.5 29.1 60.6

8 Port Huron, MI (l) 19.1 38.3 57.4

9 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY (l) 24.2 30.9 55.1

10 San Francisco Internatl.

Airport, CA (a) 23.2 26.5 49.7

11 Chicago, IL (a) 18.6 29.2 47.8

12 Houston,TX (w) 19.4 22.5 41.9

13 El Paso,TX (l) 15.8 22.6 38.5

14 Charleston, SC (w) 11.8 21.5 33.3

15 New Orleans, LA (a) 13.4 13.2 26.6

16 Norfolk,VA (w) 10.8 15.2 26.0

17 Seattle,WA (w) 5.3 18.5 23.8

18 Baltimore, MD (w) 5.3 17.9 23.2

19 Tacoma,WA (w) 4.4 18.4 22.9

20 Anchorage,AK (a) 4.8 18.0 22.7

Key: a = air; l = land port/border crossing; w = water port.

Notes:Trade excludes imports of less than $1,250 and exports of less

than $2,500. Air: Includes a low level (generally less than 2%–3% of

the total value) of small user-fee airports located in the same region.

Air gateways not identified by airport name (e.g., Chicago, IL) include

major airport(s) in that area and small regional airports. Due to

Census Bureau confidentiality regulations, courier operations are

included in airport totals for only JFK, Los Angeles, Chicago, New

Orleans, and Anchorage. Numbers may not add to totals due to

rounding.

Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of

Transportation Statistics (BTS); based on: Air—U.S. Department of

Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division, special tabulation,

August 2003. Water—USDOT, Maritime Administration, Office of Statistical

and Economic Analysis, personal communication, August 2003. Land—

USDOT, BTS,Transborder Surface Freight Data, August 2003.

Rank Gateway Exports Imports Total
40 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Motor vehicles and 

parts (87) 62,511 170,516 233,027 –108,005

Aircraft, spacecraft,

and parts (88) 43,901 17,996 61,897 25,905

Ships, boats, and 

floating structures (89) 1,239 1,329 2,568 –90

Railway or tramway 

locomotives and 

parts (86) 1,093 1,040 2,133 53

Total,

transportation goods 108,744 190,880 299,624 –82,136

Total, all goods 693,257 1,163,549 1,856,806 –470,291

Transportation goods 

share of trade 15.7% 16.4% 16.1% 17.5%

Notes: The numbers in parentheses are the classification categories from

the Harmonized Schedule of Commodity Codes.

Classification category (87) also includes bicycles, wheelchairs, and baby 

carriages.

Total trade = exports plus imports. Balance = exports minus imports.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics; based on data from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S.

International Trade Commission, Interactive Tariff and Trade DataWeb, available at http://dataweb.usitc.gov, as of August 2003.

Table 26

U.S.Trade in Transportation-Related

Commodities: 2002

(Millions of current U.S. dollars)

Commodity Total

and code Exports Imports trade Balance
Transportation and the Economy 41

Table 27

Employment in For-Hire Transportation and

Selected Transportation-Related Industriesa

(Thousands)

1970 1980 1990 2000 2002

Governmentb 711 671 673 646 U

For-hire transport 

sector total R2,855 R3,128 R3,675 R4,645 4,438

Air 352 453 968 1,280 1,161

Local and inter-urban 

passenger transit R281 R265 338 R476 472

Pipelinec R179 R189 R184 R142 136

Railroad 634 532 279 237 229

Transportation services 115 198 336 470 423

Trucking and warehousing 1,083 1,280 1,395 1,847 1,826

Water 212 211 177 194 190

Equipment manufacturing 1,949 1,995 2,073 1,931 1,739

Other related industries

total 613 2,694 3,672 4,442 4,479

Automotive and home 

supply stores U 261 337 408 406

Automotive repair

services and parking;

gasoline service stations d613 1,132 1,561 1,886 1,904

Highway and street 

construction U U 239 281 286

Motor vehicles/parts/supplies,

new/used car dealers, and 

other automotive retailers U 1,301 1,535 1,868 1,884

Total, all transportation

employment R6,128 R8,488 R10,093 R11,664 U

aAnnual averages.

b Data are for fiscal years and include permanent and temporary civilian

and military transportation-related personnel. c Includes liquid and natural gas transmission pipelines.

d Includes gasoline service stations only.

Key: R = revised; U = unavailable.

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding.

Source: Various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation,

Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics (NTS)

2002, table 3-19, available at http://www.bts.gov; and NTS 2003, forthcoming.
Pocket Guide to Transportation

Table 28 

Government Transportation Revenues by Mode

and Level of Government

(Millions of current dollars)

1980 1990 1995 2000 2001

Highway total 25,268 49,945 66,743 87,800 U

Federal:

Highway Trust Fund—

Highway Accounta 7,647 13,453 19,377 30,347 26,917

State 16,287 32,644 42,415 51,073 U

Local 1,334 3,848 4,952 6,380 U

Transit total 2,397 7,193 9,352 12,674 U

Federal:

Highway Trust Fund—

Mass Transit Account – 1,977 2,813 4,625 4,553

State 362 1,074 1,257 1,524 U

Local 2,035 4,142 5,283 6,525 U

Air total 4,100 10,119 13,954 21,627 U

Federal:Airport and 

Airway Trust Fund 2,274 4,945 6,291 10,544 10,073

State 190 556 695 852 U

Local 1,636 4,617 6,968 10,231 U

Water total 1,211 2,487 3,567 R3,717 U

Federal: water receiptsb 391 999 1,644 R1,210 1,049

State 249 355 479 693 U

Local 572 1,133 1,444 1,813 U

Pipeline c – 10 35 40 44

General support d – – 7 25 18

Total, all modes 32,977 69,753 93,659 R125,882 U

Federal 10,312 21,384 30,166 R46,791 42,654

State 17,088 34,629 44,846 54,142 U

Local 5,577 13,740 18,647 24,949 U

a Since 1983, some Highway Trust Fund fuel tax has gone to transit.

b Includes Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, St. Lawrence Seaway tolls, Inland

Waterway Trust Fund, Panama Canal receipts, Oil Spill Liability Trust

Fund, Offshore Oil Pollution Fund, Deep Water Port Liability Fund, and

excise taxes of the Boat Safety Program.

c Includes federal only: Pipeline Safety Fund.

d Includes federal only: Emergency Preparedness Fund.

Key: – = no activity or a value of zero; R = revised; U = unavailable.

Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. Only federal 

government revenues are included for 2001.

Source:Various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of Tranportation, Bureau

of Transportation Statistics, Government Transportation Financial Statistics, available at http://www.bts.gov/government_transportation_financial_statistics/

index.html, as of Oct. 2003.

42
Transportation and the Economy 43

Table 29

Government Transportation Expenditures by Mode 

(Millions of current dollars)

Highway total 34,553 R62,629 R79,375 R103,952 U

Federal 11,706 R15,517 R20,144 R27,759 29,950

State and local 22,847 47,112 59,232 R76,192 U

Transit total 8,949 19,261 26,162 R30,606 U

Federal 3,307 3,832 4,474 R5,334 7,048

State and local 5,642 15,429 21,688 R25,272 U

Rail total 2,497 541 1,043 R768 U

Federal 2,474 534 1,034 R760 722

State and local 23 7 9 8 U

Air total 5,673 12,568 R16,931 R22,107 U

Federal 3,762 7,305 R10,393 R10,571 13,984

State and local 1,911 5,263 R6,538 R11,536 U

Water total 4,477 5,480 6,628 R7,946 U

Federal 3,308 3,537 4,380 R4,814 4,472

State and local 1,168 1,943 2,247 3,132 U

Pipeline totala – 26 R45 R36 U

Federal – 9 R21 R36 29

State and local – 17 24 U U

General 

support totalb 259 R191 R394 R260 R366

Total, all modes 56,407 R100,695 R130,579 R165,674 U

Federal 24,815 R30,924 R40,839 R49,534 R56,570

State and local 31,592 69,770 R89,739 R116,140 U

a Includes gas and liquid pipeline. b Federal general support only includes

administrative and operating expenditures of the Office of the

Secretary of Transportation (excluding outlays for Payments to Air

Carriers and Commission on Aircraft Safety programs included under

“Air” above), the Interstate Commerce Commission (1995 and prior),

the Office of the Inspector General, the Research and Special Programs

Administration (excluding outlays for the Pipeline Safety program

included in “Pipeline” above), the National Transportation Safety Board,

the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and the Surface Transportation

Board.

Key: – = no activity or a value of zero; R = revised; U = unavailable.

Notes: Expenditures are from “own funds” for specified level of government. Federal includes direct spending and grants to states and localities. State and local includes outlays from all sources except federal

grants. Numbers may not add to totals due to rounding. Only federal

government expenditures are included for 2001.

Source:Various sources, as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation,

Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Government Transportation Financial

Statistics, available at http://www.bts.gov/

government_transportation_financial_statistics/index.html, as of Oct. 2003.

1980 1990 1995 2000 2001
44 Pocket Guide to Transportation

While transportation enhances the quality of our lives,

it also generates undesired environmental impacts

that can lead to human health problems and ecological

damage. Overall, most transportation air emissions, such as

particulates, have declined since 1980 despite significant

increases in U.S. population, Gross Domestic Product, and

vehicle-miles traveled. Only ammonia remains above its

1990 level.

Figure 14

New Passenger Car and Light Truck Fuel Economy

Averages: Model Years 1980–2002

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Miles per gallon

Cars

Light trucks

1980 1985 1990 1995 2002

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, Automotive Fuel Economy Program: Annual Update Calendar

Year 2002, September 2003, table II-6, available at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

cars/rules/cafe/updates.htm, as of December 2003.

6 Transportation and the Environment
Transportation and the Environment 45

Figure 15

New Passenger Car and Light Truck Sales:

Model Years 1980–2002

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Millions

Cars

Light trucks

1980 1985 1990 1995 2002

Notes: 1998–2002 data are revised from previous editions.

Data are based on Environmental Protection Agency definitions of light

trucks (gross vehicle weight 8,500 pounds or less).

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Light-Duty Automotive

Technology and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 Through 2003, appendix E, April

2003, available at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fetrends.htm, as of April 2003.
46 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Figure 16

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions from 

Energy Use: 1980–2002

150

250

350

450

550

Commercial

Residential

Transportation

Industrial

Million metric tons of carbon

1980 1985 1990 1995 2002

Notes: One ton of carbon equals 3.667 tons of carbon dioxide gas.

Electric utility emissions are distributed across sectors.

1990 and 1992–2001 data are revised from previous editions. 2002 data

are preliminary.

Sources: 1980–1989—U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), Energy

Information Administration (EIA), Appendix E, available at

http://www.eia.doe. gov/oiaf/1605/gg02rpt/appendixes.html.

1990–2002—USDOE, EIA, U.S. Carbon Dioxide from Energy Sources

2001 Flash Estimate, available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/flash/

flash.html, as of September 2003.
Transportation and the Environment

Figure 17

Index of Key Air Pollutant Emissions from 

U.S.Transportation: 1980–2001

Index: 1980 = 1.0, 1990 = 1.0 for PM-2.5 and ammonia

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

Ammonia

Sulfur dioxide

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

PM-10 PM-2.5 1.0

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001 0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

1980 1985 1990 1995 2001

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

Carbon monoxide Nitrogen oxides

Volatile organic compounds PM-10; PM-2.5

Ammonia; Sulfur Dioxide Lead

Key: PM-10 and PM-2.5 = airborne particulates of less than 10 microns or

2.5 microns, respectively.

Notes:Transportation emissions include all onroad mobile sources and

the following nonroad mobile sources: recreational vehicles and boats,

airport service equipment, aircraft, marine vessels, and railroads. Lead

includes onroad mobile sources only. EPA discontinued lead emissions

estimates in 2001.Trend lines shown differ from previous editions due

to a new EPA estimating methodology.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning

and Standards, Average Annual Emissions, All Criteria Pollutants 1970–2001,

available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/trends/, as of August 2003.

47
48 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Glossary

Air carrier—Certificated provider of scheduled and nonscheduled services.

Chained dollars—A method to measure real changes in dollar

values between years that uses chain-type indices, rather than

constant dollars.The method first calculates the real changes

between adjacent years.Annual rates of real changes are then

chained (multiplied) together to obtain the rate of real

changes between nonadjacent years.

Class I railroad—A freight railroad with an annual gross operating revenue in excess of $250 million (based on 1991 dollars).

Commercial waterway facilities—Waterway facilities as

counted by the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers are piers,

wharves, and docks. Not included are those facilities used

exclusively for recreational or active military craft and generally those providing nonmaritime use.

Commuter rail—Urban/suburban passenger train service for

short-distance travel between a central city and adjacent suburbs run on tracks of a traditional railroad system. Does not

include heavy- or light-rail transit service.

Contracted service (purchased transportation)—

Transportation service provided to a public transit agency or

governmental unit from a public or private transportation

provider based on a written contract.

Demand-responsive transit—A nonfixed-route, nonfixedschedule form of transportation that operates in response to

calls from passengers or their agents to the transit operator

or dispatcher.

Directional route-miles—The sum of the mileage in each direction over which transit vehicles travel while in revenue service.

Directly operated service—Transportation service provided

directly by a transit agency, using their employees to supply

the necessary labor to operate the revenue vehicles.

Draft—The depth of water a vessel draws, loaded or unloaded.

General aviation—Civil aviation operations other than those air

carriers holding a Certificate of Public Convenience and

Necessity.Types of aircraft used in general aviation range from

corporate, multi-engine jets piloted by a professional crew to

amateur-built, single-engine, piston-driven, acrobatic planes.

Gross Domestic Product—The total value of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United
States. As long as the labor and property are located in the

United States, the suppliers may be either U.S. residents or

residents of foreign countries.

Heavy-rail transit––High-speed transit rail operated on rightsof-way that exclude all other vehicles and pedestrians.

Hub area—As used here, a geographic area based on the percentage of total enplaned passengers in that area. A hub area

can comprise more than one airport and falls into one of the

following classes: large, a community enplaning 1% or more of

the total enplaned passengers; medium, 0.25%–0.99%; small,

0.05%–0.24%; nonhub area, less than 0.05%.The definition of

hub used here should not be confused with air line usage of

the term to describe “hub and spoke” route structures, or

other definitions of hubs used by the Federal Aviation

Administration focusing on traffic at individual airports.

Intermodal—Transportation activities involving more than one

mode of transportation, including transportation connections,

choices, cooperation and coordination of various modes.

Large certificated air carrier—Carriers operating aircraft

with a maximum passenger capacity of more than 60 seats or

a maximum payload of more than 18,000 pounds.These carriers are also grouped by annual operating revenues: 1)

majors—more than $1 billion; 2) nationals—between $100

million and $1 billion; 3) large regionals—between $20 million

and $99,999,999; and 4) medium regionals—less than $20

million.

Long-distance travel—As defined in BTS's National

Household Travel Survey, a long-distance trip is a trip of 50

miles or more away from home. This includes the portions

of the trip from the home to the farthest destination, as well

as the return trip home and any overnight stops or changes

in transportation made along the way.

Light-rail transit––Urban transit rail operated on a reserved

right-of-way that may be crossed by roads used by motor

vehicles and pedestrians.

Light truck—Trucks of 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating or less, including pickups, vans, truck-based station wagons, and sport utility vehicles.

Metric ton—A unit of weight equal to 2,204.6 pounds.

Nonself-propelled vessels—Includes dry cargo and tank

barges and railroad car floats that operate in U.S. ports and

waterways.

Glossary 49
50 Pocket Guide to Transportation

Other 2-axle, 4-tire vehicles—Includes vans, pickup trucks,

and sport utility vehicles. Does not include passenger cars.

Particulates—Carbon particles formed by partial oxidation and

reduction of the hydrocarbon fuel.Also included are trace

quantities of metal oxides and nitrides, originating from

engine wear, component degradation, and inorganic fuel additives.

Passenger-mile—One passenger transported one mile. For

example, one vehicle traveling 3 miles carrying 5 passengers

generates 15 passenger-miles.

Self-propelled vessels—Includes dry cargo vessels, tankers,

and offshore supply vessels, tugboats, pushboats, and passenger vessels, such as excursion/sightseeing boats, combination

passenger and dry cargo vessels, and ferries.

Short-ton—A unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds.

Ton-miles—A unit of measure equal to the movement of one

ton over one mile.

Truck:

Single unit—A large truck on a single frame with at least 2

axles and 6 tires. Excludes “other 2-axle, 4-tire vehicles”

noted above.

Combination—A power unit (truck or truck tractor) and

one or more trailing units.

Vehicle-mile—One vehicle traveling one mile.
Statistics published in this Pocket Guide to Transportation

come from many different sources. Some statistics are

based on samples and are subject to sampling variability.

Statistics may also be subject to omissions and errors in

reporting, recording, and processing.
U.S. Department of Transportation