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, nonfixed-schedule 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 rights-of-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.
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.
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