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BTS Home > Publications > National Transportation Statistics > 2003
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Highway Profile

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FINANCIAL

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Government receipts, total ($ millions)1 11,193 21,763 39,834 75,444 91,312 96,347 102,771 107,421 111,581 121,650 131,115 132,324 134,765
Federal, total 2,771 6,160 9,949 14,576 17,854 19,851 23,196 21,648 24,509 26,008 30,819 27,670 28,527
Highway trust funda 2,531 5,464 7,615 13,380 16,582 18,835 22,036 20,500 23,396 25,085 29,445 26,365 26,808
Other 240 696 2,334 1,196 1,272 1,016 1,160 1,148 1,113 923 1,374 1,305 1,719
State and local, total 8,422 15,603 29,885 60,868 73,458 76,496 79,575 85,773 87,072 95,642 100,296 104,654 106,238
State and D.C. 6,055 11,737 19,666 40,026 47,699 50,064 52,808 58,087 58,806 63,274 66,434 68,873 68,430
Local 2,367 3,866 10,219 20,842 25,759 26,432 26,767 27,686 28,266 32,368 33,862 35,781 37,808
Government expenditures, total ($ millions)1 10,757 20,829 41,763 75,408 90,192 93,478 98,082 101,953 107,975 116,011 122,697 129,900 135,919
Federal, total 197 425 874 664 1,306 1,402 1,598 1,315 1,375 1,428 1,680 1,913 1,761
Highway trust funda 27 83 315 358 965 1,092 1,384 1,103 1,170 1,249 1,304 1,463 1,261
Otherb 170 342 559 306 341 310 214 212 205 179 376 450 500
State and local, total 10,560 20,404 40,889 74,744 88,886 92,076 96,484 100,638 106,600 114,583 121,017 127,987 134,158
State and D.C. 7,125 14,100 25,936 45,609 55,569 56,981 59,709 61,534 65,507 71,415 76,997 81,803 85,653
Local 3,435 6,304 14,953 29,135 33,317 35,095 36,775 39,104 41,093 43,168 44,020 46,184 48,505
State highway user tax revenuesc, total ($ millions) 5,323 10,284 17,177 35,944 46,437 47,424 49,756 51,381 54,507 56,269 56,454 58,508 58,299
Motor fuel tax2 3,374 6,433 9,485 19,658 25,860 26,881 27,555 28,477 29,803 30,753 31,981 32,519 33,046
Other motor fuel receiptsd, 2 22 44 92 220 101 108 63 55 58 134 179 298 297
Motor vehicle registration fees 3 1,514 2,873 5,173 10,257 12,388 11,942 13,234 13,631 14,552 14,882 13,704 14,437 13,316
Other motor vehicle feese, 3 235 577 1,490 3,353 4,505 4,416 4,689 4,704 5,068 5,350 5,696 5,764 6,077
Motor carrier taxesf, 3 110 176 323 695 875 770 726 729 861 740 784 753 703
Miscellaneous fees3 68 181 615 1,761 2,708 3,307 3,489 3,785 4,165 4,410 4,800 4,737 4,860

INVENTORY

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Rural / urban mileage by ownership, total4 3,545,693 3,730,082 3,859,837 3,866,926 3,906,595 3,912,226 3,919,652 3,944,601 3,906,304 3,917,245 3,936,241 3,948,335 3,966,494
Rural mileage by ownership, total 3,116,125 3,169,412 3,230,936 3,122,282 3,092,810 3,092,520 3,092,887 3,108,493 3,064,650 3,071,181 3,084,000 3,071,332 3,071,768
Under state control 658,896 707,002 750,479 702,486 690,372 690,924 691,156 692,767 660,834 660,682 661,798 663,134 662,855
Under federal controlg 111,912 187,696 246,130 178,188 173,650 170,568 168,938 167,369 118,369 116,846 116,698 119,270 117,751
Under local control 2,345,317 2,274,714 2,234,327 2,241,608 2,228,788 2,231,029 2,232,793 2,248,357 2,285,447 2,293,653 2,305,504 2,288,928 2,291,162
County roads 1,742,404 1,732,981 1,542,984 1,616,634 1,624,982 1,626,927 1,627,639 1,642,468 1,647,025 1,649,291 1,656,906 1,637,616 1,628,510
Town, township and municipal roadsh 538,651 510,174 458,231 437,460 423,908 424,529 426,170 426,433 426,340 590,206 592,623 595,197 606,398
Other local roadsh 64,262 31,559 233,112 187,514 179,898 179,573 178,984 179,456 212,082 54,156 55,975 56,115 56,254
Urban mileage by ownership, total 429,568 560,670 628,901 744,644 813,785 819,706 826,765 836,108 841,654 846,064 852,241 877,003 894,726
Under state control 50,158 74,103 97,287 95,778 109,947 111,766 111,924 112,226 110,017 109,956 110,195 109,136 110,434
Under federal controlg N N 1,495 1,024 1,484 1,509 1,470 1,464 1,485 1,503 1,484 2,234 2,819
Under local control N N 530,119 647,842 702,354 706,431 713,371 722,418 730,152 734,605 740,562 765,633 781,473
County roads N N 71,357 95,929 115,388 117,518 117,181 117,487 117,016 117,105 116,918 144,065 144,615
Town and township roadsh N N 37,583 42,752 74,630 60,561 60,926 74,402 75,195 605,255 611,473 608,859 624,163
Other local roadsh 379,410 486,567 421,179 509,161 512,336 528,352 535,264 530,529 537,941 12,245 12,171 12,709 12,695
Rural / urban mileage by functional system, total5 3,545,693 3,730,082 3,859,837 3,866,926 3,906,595 3,912,226 3,919,652 3,945,872 3,906,290 3,917,240 3,936,229 3,948,335 3,966,485
Rural mileage by functional system, total 3,116,125 3,169,412 3,230,936 3,122,282 3,092,810 3,092,520 3,092,887 3,109,132 3,064,648 3,071,181 3,083,988 3,071,331 3,071,761
Interstate N N 31,905 33,547 32,457 32,580 32,820 32,817 32,813 32,974 33,048 33,061 32,992
Other principal arterial N N 82,569 83,802 97,175 97,948 98,131 98,257 98,852 98,856 98,911 99,185 98,853
Minor arterial N N 149,057 144,774 138,120 137,151 137,359 137,497 137,308 137,463 137,574 137,587 137,568
Major collector N N 439,000 436,352 431,115 431,712 432,117 432,714 432,408 432,954 433,121 433,284 430,946
Minor collector N N 299,613 293,922 282,011 274,081 273,198 272,362 272,140 271,690 271,815 271,377 270,700
Local N N 2,228,792 2,129,885 2,111,932 2,119,048 2,119,262 2,135,485 2,091,127 2,097,244 2,109,519 2,096,837 2,100,702
Urban mileage by functional system, total 429,568 560,670 628,901 744,644 813,785 819,706 826,765 836,740 841,642 846,059 852,241 877,004 894,724
Interstate N N 9,215 11,527 13,126 13,164 13,217 13,247 13,312 13,343 13,379 13,406 13,491
Other freeways and expressways N N 6,774 7,668 8,994 8,970 9,027 9,063 9,127 9,125 9,140 9,126 9,323
Other principal arterial N N 44,155 51,968 53,110 52,796 52,983 53,223 53,132 53,206 53,312 53,056 53,439
Minor arterial N N 66,377 74,659 87,857 88,510 89,020 89,185 89,496 89,399 89,789 89,962 90,411
Collector N N 68,387 78,254 86,089 87,331 87,790 88,049 88,071 88,008 88,200 88,713 89,247
Local N N 433,993 520,568 564,609 568,935 574,728 583,973 588,504 592,978 598,421 622,741 638,813
U.S. roads and streets by surface6                          
Paved mileage, total 1,230,469 1,658,421 2,072,692 2,254,822 2,342,179 2,378,268 2,380,650 2,409,935 2,420,344 2,451,426 2,504,494 2,523,468 2,577,693
Rural 919,082 1,188,080 1,490,050 1,550,283 1,561,649 1,591,334 1,582,166 1,605,804 1,612,251 1,641,877 1,684,922 1,678,782 1,714,714
Urban 311,387 470,341 582,642 704,539 780,530 786,934 798,484 804,131 808,093 809,549 819,572 844,686 862,979
Percent paved 34.7% 44.5% 53.7% 58.3% 60.0% 60.8% 60.5% 60.9% 61.3% 62.4% 63.4% 63.7% 64.8%
Unpaved mileage, total 2,315,224 2,071,661 1,787,145 1,612,104 1,564,416 1,533,958 1,553,537 1,548,349 1,528,549 1,478,977 1,445,548 1,438,727 1,402,995
Rural 2,197,043 1,981,332 1,740,886 1,571,999 1,531,161 1,501,186 1,518,310 1,510,330 1,490,488 1,436,969 1,406,508 1,400,134 1,364,900
Urban 118,181 90,329 46,259 40,105 33,255 32,772 35,227 38,019 38,061 42,008 39,040 38,593 38,095
Percent unpaved 65.3% 55.5% 46.3% 41.7% 40.0% 39.2% 39.5% 39.1% 38.7% 37.6% 36.6% 36.3% 35.2%
Number of employees                          
State and local govt. streets and highways7 532,000 607,000 559,000 569,000 544,000 543,000 U 531,000 530,000 543,000 546,000 552,000 545,000
Highway, street and bridge constructioni,8 U U U U (R) 274,000 (R) 278,000 (R) 288,000 (R) 294,000 (R) 308,000 (R) 336,000 (R) 340,000 (R) 346,000 346,000

PERFORMANCE

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Vehicle-miles of travel by functional system (millions), total j, 9 718,762 1,109,724 1,527,295 2,144,362 2,357,588 2,422,696 2,484,080 2,552,233 2,628,148 2,690,241 (R) 2,746,925 2,781,462 2,855,756
Rural mileage by functional system (millions), total 400,463 539,472 672,030 868,878 908,341 933,289 960,194 999,277 1,032,528 1,062,623 (R) 1,083,152 1,105,083 1,278,160
Interstate 10,514 79,516 135,084 200,173 215,568 223,382 232,565 240,255 251,520 260,166 (R) 268,180 274,024 279,962
Other principal arterial N N 132,958 175,133 207,569 215,567 221,403 228,716 237,704 244,045 (R) 248,725 253,056 257,587
Minor arterial N N 129,816 155,733 149,760 153,028 157,444 163,341 165,780 169,275 (R) 171,874 173,889 176,218
Major collector N N 150,186 190,512 182,000 186,212 190,923 201,790 203,580 206,831 (R) 209,659 211,312 213,503
Minor collector N N 39,282 49,948 48,529 49,936 50,107 52,310 54,288 57,622 (R) 57,572 59,650 61,504
Local N N 84,704 97,379 104,915 105,164 107,752 112,865 119,656 124,684 (R) 127,142 133,152 139,386
Urban mileage by functional system (millions), total 318,299 570,252 855,265 1,275,484 1,449,247 1,489,407 1,523,886 1,552,956 1,595,620 1,627,618 (R) 1,663,773 1,676,379 1,727,596
Interstate 13,365 81,532 161,242 278,901 330,577 341,515 351,579 361,433 374,622 383,259 (R) 393,465 399,890 408,618
Other freeways and expressways N N 79,690 127,465 147,534 151,509 157,502 159,572 165,632 171,515 (R) 177,222 182,758 189,634
Other principal arterial N N 229,469 335,543 364,200 370,365 377,776 385,123 388,071 392,688 (R) 398,772 401,037 408,336
Minor arterial N N 175,030 236,225 286,165 293,228 299,345 301,932 309,293 313,950 (R) 324,398 329,931 339,387
Collector N N 83,043 106,297 120,088 126,883 129,310 130,146 131,905 131,603 (R) 135,372 137,922 141,874
Local N N 126,791 191,053 200,683 205,907 208,374 214,750 226,097 234,603 (R) 234,544 224,841 239,747
Highway demand for petroleum, total (thousand barrels) 1,488,095 2,361,310 2,882,143 3,289,554 3,530,071 3,602,159 3,669,491 3,765,003 3,889,758 4,042,708 4,062,573 4,071,470 4,180,428
Motor fuel10 1,378,095 2,198,310 2,737,143 3,113,214 3,353,320 3,424,616 3,492,285 3,580,620 3,699,500 3,843,128 3,870,337 3,882,069 3,993,576
Asphalt and road oil11 110,000 163,000 145,000 176,340 176,751 177,543 177,206 184,383 190,258 199,580 192,236 189,401 186,852

SAFETY12

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Fatalities 36,399 52,627 51,091 44,599 40,716 41,817 42,065 42,013 41,501 41,717 41,945 (R) 42,196 42,815
Injured persons N N N 3,231,000 3,266,000 3,465,000 3,483,000 3,348,000 3,192,000 3,236,000 3,189,000 3,033,000 2,926,000
Crashes N N N 6,471,000 6,496,000 6,699,000 6,770,000 6,624,000 6,335,000 6,279,000 6,394,000 6,323,000 6,316,000

KEY: N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are not available.

a The Federal Highway Trust Fund was created with the enactment of the Highway Revenue Act of 1956. The total receipts shown for 1995 are overstated by approximately $1.59 billion due to a fiscal year (FY) 1994 error by the Treasury Department in reconciling estimated deposits to the actual tax revenue. The correction was made after the close of FY1994 and is shown in FY1995 receipts.

b Figures obtained by addition/subtraction and may not appear directly in data source.

c Gross amounts collected by state governments from highway users. Does not include tolls. Not all revenues allocated to highway expenditures.

d Includes distributors and dealers licenses, inspection fees, fines and penalties, and miscellaneous receipts.

e Includes drivers licenses, title fees, special title taxes, fines and penalties; estimated service charges and local collections.

f Includes carrier gross receipt taxes; mileage, ton-mile and passenger-mile taxes; special license fees and franchise taxes; and certificate or permit fees.

g Mileage in federal parks, forests, and reservations that are not a part of the state and local highway system.

h Prior to 1999, mileage for municipal roads was included with the "other local roads" jurisdiction. Mileage for municipal roads was included in "Town, Township and Municipal Road" jurisdiction after 1999.

i Data for 1994-2002, is based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Prior to 1994, data is based on the Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC).

j Highway category classifications changed several times before 1980. Actual 1960 data categories were: Main Rural Roads, Local Rural Roads and Urban Streets; 1970 data categories were: Rural Interstate, Rural Other Arterial, Other Rural, Urban Interstate and Other Urban.

NOTES

Motor vehicle injury and crash data in this profile come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's General Estimates System (GES). The data from GES, which began operation in 1988, are obtained from a nationally representative probability sample selected from all police-reported crashes, and the GES sample includes only crashes where a police accident report was completed and the crash resulted in property damage, injury, or death. The resulting figures do not take into account crashes which were not reported to the police or which did not result in at least property damage.

Earlier editions of NTS, particularly the 1993 Historical Compendium, used crash and injury figures estimated by the National Safety Council, which employed a different set of methods to arrive at its figures. Thus, the injury and crash figures in this edition of NTS may not be comparable with those found in earlier editions.

In 1998, FHWA instituted a new method of creating mileage based tables derived from the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). See Chapter 1 accuracy profiles for more information about the HPMS.

SOURCES

Unless otherwise noted, please refer to chapter tables for sources.

1 1960-94: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table HF-210.

1995-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables HF-10A and HF-10.

2 1960-95: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table MF-201.

1996-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual isssues), table MF-1.

3 1960-95: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table MV-202.

1996-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table MV-2.

4 1960-70: Highway Statistics, Summary to 1985 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table M-203.

1980-1995: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table HM-210.

1996-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table HM-10.

5 1960-95: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), tables HM-212 and HM-220.

1996-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table HM-20.

6 1960-95: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table HM-212.

1996-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table HM-12.

7 U.S. Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States, various years, State and Local Government Section.

8 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internet site http://www.bls.gov/data/sa.htm as of April 19, 2004.

9 1960-70: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics, Summary to 1985, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: April 1987), table VM-201.

1980-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables VM-2 and VM-2A.

10 1960-90: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table VM-201A (total fuel consumed in thousands of gallons divided by 42).

1994-2002: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-1 (total fuel consumed in thousands of gallons divided by 42).

11 1960-80: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data Report (Washington, DC), p. 13.

1990-2002: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Annual: Volume 1 (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 2.

12 1960-80: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NRD-30, personal communication.

1990-99, 2002: Ibid.,Traffic Safety Facts 2002(Washington, DC: Annual issues) tables 1 and 4.

2000-01: Ibid., Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Query, Jan. 6, 2003.
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