Preface

Congress requires the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) to report on transportation statistics to the President and Congress. This Transportation Statistics Annual Report is the 13th such report prepared in response to this congressional mandate, laid out in 49 U.S.C. 111 (1). In addition to presenting the state of transportation statistics, the report focuses on transportation indicators pertinent to the Strategic Plan of the U.S. Department of Transportation; the RITA report, Transportation Vision for 2030; and the 13 topics specified in the Safe, Accountability, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users, under 49 U.S.C. III(c)(5).

The BTS publication, National Transportation Statistics (NTS), a companion to this annual report, has more comprehensive and longer time-series data than could be accommodated here. NTS, which is updated regularly, is available online at www.bts.gov.