Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
BTS Home > Publications > National Transportation Statistics > 2007
Printable Version

Highway Profile

Excel | CSV

FINANCIAL

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Government receipts, total ($ millions)1 11,193 21,763 39,834 75,444 91,312 96,347 102,771 107,421 111,581 121,650 131,115 132,324 134,765 138,384 145,315 154,690
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 29,875 30,911 33,070
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 27,755 28,576 31,194
Other 240 696 2,334 1,196 1,272 1,016 1,160 1,148 1,113 923 1,374 1,305 1,719 2,120 2,335 1,876
State and local, total 8,422 15,603 29,885 60,868 73,458 76,496 79,575 85,773 87,072 95,642 100,296 104,654 106,238 108,509 114,404 121,620
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 67,792 72,860 77,725
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 40,717 41,544 43,895
Government expenditures, total ($ millions)1 10,757 20,829 41,763 75,408 90,192 93,478 98,082 101,953 107,975 116,011 122,697 129,900 135,919 143,812 147,489 152,699
Federal, total 197 425 874 664 1,306 1,402 1,598 1,315 1,375 1,428 1,680 1,913 1,761 2,388 3,470 1,902
Highway trust funda 27 83 315 358 965 1,092 1,384 1,103 1,170 1,249 1,304 1,463 1,261 1,690 2,436 758
Otherb 170 342 559 306 341 310 214 212 205 179 376 450 500 698 1,034 1,144
State and local, total 10,560 20,404 40,889 74,744 88,886 92,076 96,484 100,638 106,600 114,583 121,017 127,987 134,158 141,424 144,019 150,797
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 88,377 88,026 94,484
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 53,047 55,993 56,313
State highway user tax revenuesc, total ($ millions) 5,323 10,284 17,178 35,944 46,437 47,424 49,756 51,381 54,507 56,269 57,144 58,508 58,299 59,642 62,830 64,801
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 34,016 35,272 35,831
Other motor fuel receiptsd, 2 22 44 92 220 101 108 63 55 58 134 179 298 297 277 194 202
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 13,606 14,443 15,377
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 5,885 6,373 6,451
Motor carrier taxesf, 3 110 176 323 695 875 770 726 729 861 740 784 753 703 709 730 786
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 5,149 5,819 6,154

INVENTORY

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
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 3,974,103 3,981,521 3,995,644
Rural mileage, 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 3,033,133 3,000,247 2,985,804
Under state control 658,896 707,002 750,479 702,486 690,372 690,924 691,156 692,767 660,834 660,682 661,798 663,134 662,855 652,522 648,555 636,339
Under federal controlg 111,912 187,696 246,130 178,188 173,650 170,568 168,938 167,369 118,369 116,846 116,698 119,270 117,751 120,208 117,740 123,413
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 2,260,403 2,233,952 2,226,052
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 1,623,786 1,608,094 1,598,718
Town, township and municipal roadsh 538,651 510,174 458,231 437,460 423,908 424,529 426,170 426,433 426,340 590,206 592,623 595,197 606,398 580,825 573,871 575,569
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 55,792 51,987 51,765
Urban mileage, total 429,568 560,670 628,901 744,644 813,785 819,706 826,765 836,108 841,654 846,064 852,241 877,003 894,726 940,970 981,274 1,009,840
Under state control 50,158 74,103 97,287 95,778 109,947 111,766 111,924 112,226 110,017 109,956 110,195 109,136 110,434 120,033 126,132 140,913
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 3,560 3,561 3,783
Under local control N N 530,119 647,842 702,354 706,431 713,371 722,418 730,152 734,605 740,562 765,633 781,473 817,377 851,581 865,144
County roads N N 71,357 95,929 115,388 117,518 117,181 117,487 117,016 117,105 116,918 144,065 144,615 156,598 175,601 182,696
Town and township roadsh N N 37,583 42,752 74,630 60,561 60,926 74,402 75,195 605,255 611,473 608,859 624,163 647,448 662,366 668,337
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 13,331 13,614 14,111
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 3,974,107 3,981,512 3,995,635
Rural mileage, 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 3,033,138 3,000,236 2,985,796
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 32,048 31,443 30,905
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 97,038 95,946 95,156
Minor arterial N N 149,057 144,774 138,120 137,151 137,359 137,497 137,308 137,463 137,574 137,587 137,568 135,596 135,449 135,408
Major collector N N 439,000 436,352 431,115 431,712 432,117 432,714 432,408 432,954 433,121 433,284 430,946 424,288 420,046 419,999
Minor collector N N 299,613 293,922 282,011 274,081 273,198 272,362 272,140 271,690 271,815 271,377 270,700 267,524 267,842 264,387
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 2,076,644 2,049,510 2,039,941
Urban mileage, total 429,568 560,670 628,901 744,644 813,785 819,706 826,765 836,740 841,642 846,059 852,241 877,004 894,724 940,969 981,276 1,009,839
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 14,460 15,129 15,703
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 9,870 10,246 10,560
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 56,870 59,695 61,803
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 93,888 97,433 101,673
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 97,114 102,150 106,109
Local N N 433,993 520,568 564,609 568,935 574,728 583,973 588,504 592,978 598,421 622,741 638,813 668,767 696,623 713,991
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 2,612,069 2,577,963 2,601,490
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 1,702,175 1,629,423 1,625,390
Urban 311,387 470,341 582,642 704,539 780,530 786,934 798,484 804,131 808,093 809,549 819,572 844,686 862,979 909,894 948,540 976,100
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% 65.5% 64.5% 64.9%
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 1,376,283 1,417,527 1,408,757
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 1,333,969 1,373,622 1,363,383
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 42,314 43,905 45,374
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% 34.5% 35.5% 35.1%
Number of employees                                
State and local govt. streets and highways7 532,000 607,000 559,000 569,000 544,233 543,143 U 548,486 530,097 542,612 546,215 551,706 545,249 245,617 542,642 546,220
Highway, street and bridge constructioni,8 U U U U 274,000 278,100 287,500 294,200 308,000 336,300 340,100 345,800 345,900 340,100 (R) 347,000 351,900

PERFORMANCE

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
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 2,746,925 2,781,462 2,855,756 2,890,893 2,962,513 2,989,807
Rural mileage, total 400,463 539,472 672,030 868,878 908,341 933,289 960,194 999,277 1,032,528 1,062,623 1,083,152 1,105,083 1,128,160 1,085,385 1,070,248 1,037,937
Interstate 10,514 79,516 135,084 200,173 215,568 223,382 232,565 240,255 251,520 260,166 268,180 274,024 279,962 269,945 266,996 258,790
Other principal arterial N N 132,958 175,133 207,569 215,567 221,403 228,716 237,704 244,045 248,725 253,056 257,587 245,345 241,046 233,999
Minor arterial N N 129,816 155,733 149,760 153,028 157,444 163,341 165,780 169,275 171,874 173,889 176,218 171,251 168,898 164,933
Major collector N N 150,186 190,512 182,000 186,212 190,923 201,790 203,580 206,831 209,659 211,312 213,503 203,368 200,792 193,288
Minor collector N N 39,282 49,948 48,529 49,936 50,107 52,310 54,288 57,622 57,572 59,650 61,504 60,294 60,139 58,299
Local N N 84,704 97,379 104,915 105,164 107,752 112,865 119,656 124,684 127,142 133,152 139,386 135,182 132,377 128,628
Urban mileage, 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 1,663,773 1,676,379 1,727,596 1,805,508 1,892,265 1,951,870
Interstate 13,365 81,532 161,242 278,901 330,577 341,515 351,579 361,433 374,622 383,259 393,465 399,890 408,618 432,633 454,385 469,070
Other freeways and expressways N N 79,690 127,465 147,534 151,509 157,502 159,572 165,632 171,515 177,222 182,758 189,634 199,520 207,629 213,727
Other principal arterial N N 229,469 335,543 364,200 370,365 377,776 385,123 388,071 392,688 398,772 401,037 408,336 425,622 450,142 463,100
Minor arterial N N 175,030 236,225 286,165 293,228 299,345 301,932 309,293 313,950 324,398 329,931 339,387 348,794 362,018 371,392
Collector N N 83,043 106,297 120,088 126,883 129,310 130,146 131,905 131,603 135,372 137,922 141,874 153,751 162,108 168,038
Local N N 126,791 191,053 200,683 205,907 208,374 214,750 226,097 234,603 234,544 224,841 239,747 245,188 255,683 266,543
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 4,081,742 4,203,095 4,233,039 (R) 4,328,176 4,336,426
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 3,892,341 4,016,243 4,049,263 (R) 4,131,695 4,149,690
Asphalt and road oil11 110,000 163,000 145,000 176,340 176,751 177,543 177,206 184,383 190,258 199,580 192,236 189,401 186,852 183,776 196,481 186,736

SAFETY12

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Fatalities 36,399 52,627 51,091 44,599 40,716 41,817 42,065 42,013 41,501 41,717 41,945 42,196 43,005 42,884 (R) 42,836 43,443
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 2,889,000 2,788,000 2,699,000
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 6,328,000 6,181,000 6,159,000

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 is included with the "other local roads" jurisdiction. Mileage for municipal roads is included in "Town, Township and Municipal Road" jurisdiction after 1999.

i Data for years 1994 and later are based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Prior to 1994, data are 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. 1995-2005: 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. 1996-2005: 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. 1996-2005: 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. 1980-95: Ibid., Highway Statistics, Summary to 1995, FHWA-PL-97-009 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table HM-210. 1996-2005: 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. 1996-2005: 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. 1996-2005: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table HM-12.

7 1960-90: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, (Washington, DC: Annual issues), State and Local Government Section. 1994-2005: U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, State and Local Government Employment and Payroll Data, (Washington, DC: Annual issues), Internet site http://www.census.gov/govs/www/apesstl.html as of Jan. 23, 2007.

8 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internet site http://www.bls.gov/data/sa.htm as of Jan. 23, 2007.

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. 1980-2005: 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). 1994-2005: 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: July 1982), p. 13. 1990-2005: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Annual: Volume 1 (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 1.

12 1960-80: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NRD-30, personal communication. 1990-2005: Ibid., Traffic Safety Facts (Washington, DC: Annual issues), tables 1 and 4.
Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) • U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 800-853-1351 • E-mail RITA

Accessibility | Disclaimer | Fast Lane | FedStats | Freedom of Information Act | No FEAR Act | OIG Hotline | Privacy Policy | RSS | USA.gov | White House | Wireless

Plug-ins: PDF Reader | Flash Player | Excel Viewer | PowerPoint Viewer | Word Viewer | WinZip