Legal Definitions - Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is a key agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. Its primary role is to collect, analyze, and make available a wide range of data related to the nation's transportation system. This includes information on everything from passenger travel and freight movement to infrastructure, safety, and the economic impact of transportation, providing essential insights for policymakers, researchers, and the public.

Here are some examples illustrating the role of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics:

• Imagine a state government is considering a major investment in new rail infrastructure to alleviate highway congestion. To make an informed decision, they would need reliable data on current commuter patterns, freight volumes, and the existing capacity of different transportation modes. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics regularly publishes detailed reports and datasets on these very topics, such as statistics on daily vehicle miles traveled, passenger rail ridership, and freight tonnage moved by truck, rail, air, and water. By accessing BTS data, the state planners can understand the current transportation landscape and project future needs, ensuring their investment is strategically sound.

• Consider a logistics company that specializes in shipping goods across the country. They want to optimize their routes and understand potential bottlenecks in the supply chain. They might be interested in trends related to port activity, average transit times for different modes of transport, or the economic health of the trucking industry. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics compiles and publishes comprehensive data on these areas, including port throughput, freight transportation services index, and even fuel consumption by different vehicle types. This information helps the logistics company make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

• A university researcher is studying the long-term impact of air travel delays on the U.S. economy and consumer behavior. They need consistent, historical data on flight cancellations, on-time performance, and the reasons for delays across various airlines and airports. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics maintains extensive databases on airline performance, including detailed monthly reports on flight statistics. The researcher can access this publicly available data to analyze trends, identify contributing factors to delays, and quantify their economic and social consequences, all based on the official statistics compiled by the BTS.