Bureau of Transportation Statistics Pat Hu, Director Bureau of Transportation Statistics Research and Innovative Technology Administration United States

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Pat Hu, Director

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

United States Department of Transportation

2U.S. Department of TransportationResearch and Innovative Technology Administration

History and Overview■ In 1992, the

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)

created BTS as a federal statistical agency to:□ administer transportation data collection, analysis, and

reporting; and □ ensure the most cost-effective use of resources to

monitor:□ Transportation’s contributions to the economy□ Transportation’s implications, e.g., safety,

environment

■ BTS is one of the 15 statutorily recognized Federal Statistical Agencies. As such, BTS

□ is policy-neutral objective broker for the facts,□ does independent data collection and analysis, and assists all the other modal

agencies to be more effective and efficient in their data collection and analysis,□ sets standards for transportation data, and□ has special statutory protection for maintaining confidentiality of data.

http://www.bts.gov/laws_and_regulations/

http://www.bts.gov/laws_and_regulations/


Overview (Continued)

■ In 2005, BTS became part of the

Research and Innovative Technology

Administration.

■ Budget and Size□ SAFETEA-LU authorizes $27 million annually□ Airline program $4 million; □ Approximately 55 Federal employees

■ Advised by a 10-member advisory council

appointed by the Secretary of Transportation


BTS Responsibilities

■ Provide data, statistics, and analysis for fiscally responsible investments to■ Continue economic recovery■ Improve economic competitiveness■ Strengthen communities■ Improve safety

Ensure reliability of decisions by reviewing the validity of both data and

method;

Coordinate collection of information with the operating administrations;

Modernize data programs;

Encourage and facilitate data standardization;

Publish comprehensive statistics on the performance and impacts of

transportation systems;

Make statistics accessible;

Establish and maintain a National Transportation Library


Data and Statistics Development Safety

□ Confidential Close Call (C3RS) Reporting System.

▪ The aim is to collect precursor data to improve rail safety through voluntary reporting and other non-regulatory means

▪ An FRA Research Safety Initiative -- 6th year running; received and processed, in a secure area, over 2,350 reports on close call events.

□ Safety Data.Gov

▪ As part of the Data.Gov initiative, the goal is to make data/knowledge related to public safety accessible in one central location.

▪ USDOT is taking the lead in partnership with Departments of Justice and Labor, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others.

▪ 500 data sets would be accessible and searchable through standardized key words.


Data and Statistics Development (cont’d) Freight

□ 2012 Commodity Flow Survey

▪ Is the primary source of domestic freight shipments by commodity types, origins and destinations, values, weights, modes of transport, etc.

▪ Data are to be collected from 100,000+ shippers.

▪ Data collection began in December 2011, and will last for 12 months.□ TransBorder Freight Data

▪ Data represent official U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico for shipments by surface modes since North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

▪ Specifically, it collects freight flow data by commodity type and by mode of transportation for U.S. exports to, and imports from, Canada and Mexico.


Data and Statistics Development (cont’d) Freight (cont’d)

□ International Freight Data System (IFDS)

▪ Is a data warehouse containing detailed data on all imports and exports.

▪ IFDS will address freight data gaps and improve geographical representation of imports and exports.

□ Air Freight Traffic

▪ Monthly data reported by certificated U.S. and foreign air carriers’ freight and mail transported.

▪ Carriers also report data on aircraft type, service class, available capacity, and aircraft hours ramp-to-ramp and airborne.

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

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2

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Passengers

Freight

Passengers (millions) Freight (millions of tons)


Data and Statistics Development (cont’d)

Passenger Travel□ Air Travel

▪ Monthly data are reported on passengers, including enplanements, origins, destinations, on-time performance, and tarmac delay.

27.9%

3.0%

31.3%0.2%

37.6%

Air Carrier Weather Air Traffic Control & Airports

Security Aircraft Arriving Late

□ 2010 National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO)

▪ It collects information on each ferry vessel, route segments, passenger/vehicle boardings, peak periods, modal connectivity, terminal information.


Data and Statistics Development (cont’d) Passenger Travel (cont’d)

□ GIS-based Intermodal Passenger Connectivity Database

▪ Nationwide database of 2,500 intercity transportation facilities with scheduled passenger services.

Airports

Amtrak and Alaska Railroad

Terminals

Commuter Rail Stations

Ferry Terminals

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400

With connecting modes

Without connecting modes

Number of Terminals

Percentage of passenger transportation terminals with connectivity to other modes

Rural Americans are losing intercity access


Data and Statistics Development (cont’d) Economy and Finance

□ Transportation Service Index (TSI)

▪ Monthly index measures freight/passenger movement.

▪ Is exploring the possibility of TSI as a leading economic indicator for recessions and growth cycles

Jan-90

May-91

Sep-92

Jan-94

May-95

Sep-96

Jan-98

May-99

Sep-00

Jan-02

May-03

Sep-04

Jan-06

May-07

Sep-08

Jan-10

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

Change in Freight TSI


Data and Statistics Development (cont’d) Economy and Finance (cont’d)

□ Transportation Satellite Accounts

▪ Estimate the contribution of both for-hire and in-house transportation services to the national economy.

In 1997, transportation services contributed $368B of value-added to the economy, with trucking dominating.


Data and Statistics Development (cont’d)

Economy and Finance (cont’d)□ Government Financial Statistics

▪ Contains statistics on transportation-related revenues and expenditures of federal, state and local governments for all modes of transportation.

□ Statistics on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)▪ Update ARRA data continually and display in a thematic map.


Coordinate Geospatial Data Development

BTS represents USDOT at the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC).□Developing a business plan for the Geospatial

Platform, and for the Transportation for the Nation initiative.

Developed a web-based mapping application for the watch standers in the USDOT Crisis Management Center.

Developed State Facts and Figures web mapping application, which went live early this year.


Modernize Data Programs 2012 Commodity Flow Survey

□ For the first time, CFS respondents are able to respond to the survey via a web survey tool and, to date, almost half of all responses have been submitted via the web option.

2010 National Census of Ferry Operators□ A new data query tool is developed to facilitate the access and usage

of the survey data.

Airline Information System□ An end-to-end process is being developed to:

▪ Monitor, on the real-time basis, the quality of the data submitted by air carriers

▪ Develop automated ways to update business rules to check data quality

▪ Flag outliners and abnormalities for more in-depth analysis

▪ Streamline data processes


Promote and Validate Data and Method BTS assists/participates in

□ Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s pilot program, where

the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the

United States beyond the municipalities and commercial zones will

be tested.

□ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s effort to

determine a better methodology to project highway fatalities and

the highway fatality rate.

□ NHTSA’s Tire Pressure Monitoring System Program where the

benefits will be measured.

BTS assists in the Paper Reduction Act/OMB review process for all

OMB requests originated from DOT. On average, BTS reviews 4 to

5 packages per months from various modal administrations.


Make Statistics Accessible Statistical Public Data Application Program Interface

(API) to□ Help provide automated access data□ Provide data in a format that will inspire crowd-sourcing – the

development of web/mobile applications□ Partner with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bureau of

Labor Statistics and Bureau of Census

BTS Web Re-Engineering

State Transportation Facts and Figures


Foster Knowledge Transfer Multi-pronged approach

□ National Transportation Library (NTL)

▪ Physical

▪ Digital

□ Transportation Knowledge Networks

Public Launch of USDOT Research Hub□A database links research project to final reports in the

NTL Digital Repository. Visualization of Transportation Research Trends

□ A tool to uncover trends in transportation research over time. □ Partner with the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced

Transportation Technology Laboratory (CATT LAB).


Knowledge Transfer (cont’d)

Multi-pronged approach □ National Transportation Library (NTL)

▪ Physical

▪ Digital

□ Transportation Knowledge Networks

Public Launch of USDOT Research Hub□A database links research project to final reports in the

NTL Digital Repository. Visualization of Transportation Research Trends

□ A tool to uncover trends in transportation research over time. □ Partner with the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced

Transportation Technology Laboratory (CATT LAB).


Other Initiatives

The Journal of Transportation and Statistics (JT&S)□ JT&S Editorial Board convened

▪ 27 Members: 17 academia (12 in US); 4 private; 6 public□ Papers received thus far for first issue: 28 (as of March 1)□ Anticipate subscription base of 1,000□ Planned date of first issue – Fall/Winter 2012

American Statistical Association’s Transportation Statistics Interest Group□ Composed of statisticians, economists, and analysts who are

interested in: ▪ developing and applying statistical methods to address problems in transportation, ▪ analyzing transportation data, ▪ collecting transportation data, and ▪ formulating mathematical models that describe and explain underlying mechanisms or

processes in transportation.


Other Initiatives (cont’d)

C-SPAN’s Washington Journal for Friday: Engaging Americans on American Statistics□ An collaborative effort of all 14 Federal Statistics Agencies

□ “Nation’s Transportation Infrastructure.” Aired in December, 2011

□ “Air Transportation Performances.” To be aired in April, 2012.

International Collaborations□ North American Transportation Statistics Interchange□ International Transport Forum on research workshops□ Contribute USA transportation statistics published in various

reports/databases by the United Nations Economic Commission.


Activities Planned to Improve Methodologies or Update Statistics

Re-design of the Omnibus Household Survey□ To assist other components of USDOT to acquire public feedback in

an expeditious manner.□ To expand the survey coverage to establishment populations

Enhance TSI methodology to include the entirety of passenger travel.

Highway Air Water Transit Railroad Pipelines0.00

0.10

0.20

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0.70

0.5

7

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7

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2 0.0

9

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0.0

0

0.02

0.02

0.00

0.01

0.07

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0.5

9

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9

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3 0.1

0

0.0

7

0.0

1

Average of 1977-2000

Government

Private Business

Total

Per

cen

t In

vest

men

t Reduce the lag time in

TSA development. Update the 2004 study

on transportation investment.

Documents

Bureau of Transportation Statistics Pat Hu, Director Bureau of Transportation Statistics Research and Innovative Technology Administration United States