Transportation Services Index (TSI) Fell 1.0 Percent in February from January

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Contact BTS 20-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Friday, May 6, 2005 - The Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 1.0 percent in February to 128.4 (1996=100) from the January level of 129.7, turning down after the biggest one-month gain since July 1997, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

BTS, a part of DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the February level of 128.4 for the combined freight and passenger index was 4.5 percent higher than the February 2004 level of 122.8 (Table 2). The February 2005 level was 30.5 percent higher than the February level of the base year of 1996 (Table 3).

TSI is a single seasonally adjusted index of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline, and local transit. 

The index includes historic data from 1990 to the present. The TSI is still under development and is considered experimental. The index measures changes from the monthly average for the base year of 1996. The next release is scheduled for June 6.

Transportation Services Index for Freight

The TSI for freight fell 1.0 percent to 129.5 in February from the January level of 130.9 (Table 1), turning down after the biggest one-month gain since December 2003. The February 2005 level of 129.5 is 4.5 percent higher than the February 2004 level of 123.9 (Table 4).

Transportation Services Index for Passengers

The TSI for passengers fell 1.0 percent to 126.1 in February from the January level of 127.4 (Table 1), turning down after the biggest monthly increase since February 2004.  The February 2005 level of 126.1 is 4.4 percent higher than the February 2004 level of 120.8 (Table 5).

During the six months ending in February, the TSI rose 2.3 percent, the Freight TSI rose 2.5 percent and the Passenger TSI rose 1.7 percent (Table 1).

Notes: TSI numbers for November 2004 (Total, Freight, and Passenger) were revised because of revisions in the output data of the component transportation services. The November TSI is 128.3, revised from 127.6 reported in the April release. The November Freight TSI is 129.6, revised from 128.9. The November Passenger TSI is 125.5, revised from 125.1. The TSI for December, January and February are preliminary.

TSI revision policy: TSI is updated monthly with the latest three months' index numbers considered preliminary.  Each month BTS releases the latest preliminary TSI, and replaces the oldest preliminary TSI with a revised TSI.  All other revisions are held until an annual comprehensive revision of the TSI which will be released as part of the following July TSI release. More information about the revision policy is available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

Table 1: Percent changes in the Transportation Services Index by Month Since August 2004 (Seasonally Adjusted, Monthly Average of 1996 = 100)

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SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: P = preliminary; R = revised

Table 2: Percent changes in the Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year February TSI  (Monthly average of 1996 = 100)

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SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: P = preliminary

Table 3: Percent Changes in the Transportation Services Index from Previous Years to 2005 February to February

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SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Table 4: Percent changes in the Freight Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year February Freight TSI  (Monthly average of 1996 = 100)

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SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: P = preliminary

Table 5: Percent changes in the Passenger Transportation Services Index from Year-to-Year February Passenger TSI  (Monthly average of 1996 = 100)

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SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Note: P = preliminary

Brief Explanation of the TSI

The Transportation Services Index (TSI) is a measure of the month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries. 

The TSI tells us how the output of transportation services has increased or decreased from month to month. The index can be examined together with other economic indicators to produce a better understanding of the current and future course of the economy.   The movement of the index over time can be compared with other economic measures to understand the relationship of changes in transportation output to changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The TSI is still under development and is therefore considered experimental. It is being examined for refinements in data sources, methodologies and interpretations.

The freight transportation index consists of:

For hire trucking,
Railroad freight services (including rail based intermodal shipments such as containers on flat cars),
Inland waterways transportation,
Pipeline transportation (including principally petroleum and petroleum products and natural gas), and
Air freight.

The index does not include international or coastal waterborne movements, private trucking, courier services, or the US Postal Service.

The passenger transportation index consists of:

Local transit,
Intercity passenger rail, and
Passenger air transportation.

The index does not include intercity bus, sight seeing services, ferry services, taxi service, private automobile usage, or bicycling and other non-motorized transportation.