BTS | Table 1-1: System Mileage Within the United States

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BTS Home > Publications > National Transportation Statistics > 2001

Table 1-1: System Mileage Within the United States

(Statute miles)

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	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Highway^a	3,545,693	3,689,666	3,730,082	3,838,146	3,859,837	3,863,912	3,866,926	3,883,920	3,901,081	3,905,211	3,906,595	3,912,226	^R3,919,652	^R3,945,872	^R3,906,290	3,917,243	3,936,229
Class I rail^b,c	207,334	199,798	196,479	191,520	164,822	145,764	119,758	116,626	113,056	110,425	109,332	108,264	105,779	102,128	100,570	99,430	99,250
Amtrak^c	N	N	N	N	24,000	24,000	24,000	25,000	25,000	25,000	25,000	24,000	25,000	25,000	22,000	23,000	23,000
Transit^d
Commuter rail^c	N	N	N	N	N	3,574	4,132	4,038	4,013	4,090	4,090	4,160	3,682	4,417	5,172	5,191	U
Heavy rail	N	N	N	N	N	1,293	1,351	1,369	1,403	1,452	1,455	1,458	1,478	1,527	1,527	1,540	U
Light rail	N	N	N	N	N	384	483	551	558	537	562	568	638	659	676	802	U
Navigable channels^e	25,000	25,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000
Oil pipeline^f	190,944	210,867	218,671	225,889	218,393	213,605	208,752	203,828	^R196,545	^R193,980	^R190,350	^R181,912	177,535	179,873	178,648	177,463	U
Gas pipeline^g	630,950	767,520	913,267	979,263	1,051,774	1,118,875	1,206,894	1,225,358	1,253,924	1,251,095	1,257,971	1,262,152	1,276,315	1,251,199	^R1,294,262	1,345,381	U

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

^a All public road and street mileage in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. For years prior to 1980, some miles of nonpublic roadways are included. No consistent data on private road mileage are available. Beginning in 1998, approximately 43,000 miles of Bureau of Land Management Roads are excluded.

^b Data represent miles of road owned (aggregate length of road, excluding yard tracks, sidings, and parallel lines).

^c Portions of Class I freight railroads, Amtrak, and commuter rail networks share common trackage. Amtrak data represent miles of track operated.

^d Transit system mileage is measured in directional route-miles. A directional route-mile is the mileage in each direction over which public transportation vehicles travel while in revenue service. Directional route-miles are computed with regard to direction of service, but without regard to the number of traffic lanes or rail tracks existing in the right-of-way.

^e The St. Lawrence Seaway is not included in this number because 3 of the 5 subsections are solely in Canadian waters, and the others are in international boundary waters. Of the 26,000 miles of navigable waterways, 10,867 miles are commercially significant shallow-draft inland waterways subject to fuel taxes.

^f Includes trunk and gathering lines for crude-oil pipeline.

^g Excludes service pipelines. Data not adjusted to common diameter equivalent. Mileage as of the end of each year. Includes field and gathering, transmission, and distribution mains. See table 1-8 for a more detailed breakout of oil and gas pipeline mileage.

SOURCES:

Highway:

1960-95: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table HM-212.

1996-98,2000: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table HM-20.

1999: Ibid., personal communication, May 2002.

Class I rail:

1960-2000: Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts (Washington, DC: 2001), p. 45.

Amtrak:

1980: Amtrak, Corporate Planning and Development, personal communication (Washington, DC).

1985-2000: Amtrak, Corporate Planning and Development, Amtrak Annual Report, Statistical Appendix (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

Transit:

1985-99: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (Washington, DC: Annual issues) table 20 and similar tables in earlier editions.

Navigable channels:

1960-96: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ohio River Division, Huntington District, Ohio River Navigation System Report, 1996, Commerce on the Ohio River and its Tributaries (Fort Belvoir, VA: 1996), p. 2.

1997-99: Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center Databases, personal communication, Aug. 3, 2001.

Oil pipeline:

1960-99: Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation in America, 2000 (Washington, DC: 2001), p. 44.

Gas pipeline:

1960-99: American Gas Association, Gas Facts (Arlington, VA: Annual issues), table 5-2 and similar tables in earlier editions.