Transportation Secretary Slater Says New American Travel Survey Results Underscore Need for Investment in Infrastructure

Contact DOT 185-97 Carolee Bush 202-366-6946

Monday, November 10, 1997 -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today said that it is more important now than ever for the United States to continue investment in transportation safety and infrastructure as he announced the release of a new American travel survey showing that Americans travel more than 800 billion miles a year and have nearly doubled travel on long distance trips in the last 20 years.

"Results of this survey underscore the importance of President Clinton's proposal for a strategic investment in transportation infrastructure to maintain a safe, efficient and environmentally sensitive system," Secretary Slater said. "This survey shows how all modes of transportation are vital to the economy and our quality of life. "

The 1995 American Travel Survey: United States Profile from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is the first report in a series that will present information about long-distance travel habits in America. The survey is the first comprehensive effort since 1977 to determine where, when and how people travel in the United States. For the first time, it provides information about how people get from their homes to other modes of transportation such as buses, planes and trains.

It shows that Americans are traveling more and further, and that, for economic and social purposes, state lines are becoming a blur. Americans took about 1 billion long distance trips during 1995, which accounts for about 25 percent of all travel in the United States.

According to BTS Director T.R. Lakshmanan, more than half of all highway trips greater than 100 miles cross state lines, and the number of these long distance trips nearly doubled since 1977. About one-third of these trips are "bridge traffic," meaning they passed through at least one state to get to a destination in a third state.

Secretary Slater also expressed concern about the effect of increased travel on greenhouse gas emissions. With only four percent of the world’s population, the United States accounts for 23 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. And within transportation, cars and other light vehicles account for 53 percent of these emissions; freight trucks, 20 percent; and aviation 10 percent.

In March, President Clinton proposed continued investment in transportation safety and infrastructure by urging reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), through a $175 billion NEXTEA, the National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act. The landmark bill reaffirmed safety as his highest transportation priority and includes record levels of investment to rebuild America and ensure global competitiveness. It also included values to improve the quality of life for Americans, especially by serving as a pathway to move people from welfare to work.

Highlights of the American Travel Survey include:

• Americans traveled nearly 827 billion miles in 1995 -- enough distance for each person in the United States to go from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore. The average American traveled more than 3,100 miles on long distance trips in 1995, up from 1,800 miles in 1977 on trips longer than 100 miles.
• Cars, light trucks and vans were by far the dominant means of transportation for long distance trips in 1995, accounting for more than 80 percent of person trips, which is about the same as in 1977. Air travel was the second most popular means of transportation, accounting for 16 percent of trips, growing from 12 percent in 1977.
• Buses and trains are used relatively infrequently to make long distance trips compared with cars and airplanes, but more trips were made by both modes than 20 years ago. Between 1977 and 1995, the number of bus trips increased 37 percent and train trips, 22 percent. In 1995, there were 20 million bus trips and 5 million train trips.
• Minority groups increased their trip-making, but white Americans still travel about twice as much as African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans.
• Nearly 9 out of 10 air travelers used a car to get to the airport, and one out of every 10 intercity bus travelers walked to the bus station; 181 million long-distance trips, or about one of every five trips, involved the use of more than one mode.
• People in households with less than $25,000 annual income are half of all intercity bus riders; about 25 percent of train riders have less than $25,000 annual income.
• Seventy-four percent of trips longer than 1,000 miles are by plane, and nearly 25 percent of trips longer than 1,000 miles are by car. Nearly all travel that is less than 500 miles round trip, is by car. About four percent is by bus or train and only two percent is by plane.

The American Travel Survey represents a partnership between the Transportation Department and the Department of Commerce's Census Bureau. The Census Bureau collected data each quarter from nearly 80,000 households for the survey. BTS designed the survey, provided funding and is developing a series of data products and interpretative reports to turn the data into information that will be useful for planners, designers and users of the United States' transportation system.

According to Dr. Lakshmanan, survey data will be used by transportation decision makers in federal, state and local governments, as well as by private-sector firms for transportation construction and maintenance, for analyzing safety data, for developing new businesses, and for determining the effect of travel on the nation’s transportation system. The federal government will use the information to help develop formulas for allocating highway funds, and entrepreneurs, such as those in the hotel and food industries, use the information in offering tourism and travel services.

This first report from the survey, along with data about each state, is available on the BTS Internet site, www.bts.gov/ats. Copies of the survey can be obtained by calling (202) 366-DATA (3282), by faxing requests to (202) 366-3640, by e-mailing requests to orders@bts.gov, or by writing to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room 3430, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C., 20590.