H - Information on Data Sources
Airline freight and passenger data
The U.S. Department
of Transportation’s (USDOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) collects
and compiles data on the volume of revenue passengers, freight, and mail traffic
handled and reported by the nation’s large certificated air carriers. These
carriers hold Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPN) issued
by the USDOT authorizing the performance of air transportation. Large certificated
air carriers operate aircraft with seating capacity of more than 60 seats
or a maximum payload capacity of more than 18,000 pounds or conduct international
operations. Data for commuters, intrastate, nonscheduled air taxi operators,
and foreign flag air carriers are not included in this BTS data.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information
Print source:
USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information.
Airport Activity Statistics. Washington,
: Annual issues.
Internet: http://www.bts.gov
Commodity Flow Survey
The Commodity
Flow Survey (CFS) provides data on the movement of freight by type of commodity
shipped and by mode of transport. In 1997, 100,000 domestic establishments
were randomly selected from a universe of approximately 800,000 engaged in
mining, manufacturing, wholesale, warehouses of multi-establishment companies,
and some selected activities in retail and service. The survey excluded establishments
classified as farms, forestry, fisheries, governments, construction, transportation,
foreign establishments, services, and most establishments in retail. For the 1997 CFS, each selected establishment
reported a sample of about 25 outbound shipments for a one-week period in
each of four calendar quarters in 1997. This produced a total sample of over
5 million shipments. Due to industry-wide
reporting problems, shipments by oil and gas extraction establishments were
excluded from data tabulations.
For each sampled
1997 CFS shipment, zip code of origin and destination, 5-digit Standard Classification
of Transported Goods (SCTG) code, weight, value, and modes of transport were
provided. Information on whether the shipment was containerized, a hazardous
material, or an export was also obtained. Route-distance for each mode, for
each shipment, is imputed from a Mode-Distance Table developed by Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. Distance was used to compute ton-mileage by mode of transport.
The CFS provides nationwide geographic coverage in 89 National Transportation
Analysis Regions, stratified by state and, for the 1997 CFS, metropolitan
area.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Statistical Programs
Print source:
USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics and U.S. Department of Commerce,
Bureau of the Census, [State]:1997 Commodity Flow Survey.
EC97TCF-[State], Washington,
: 1999.
Internet: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/cfs/
Commuting data
Commuting data
are derived from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey (C2SS). The C2SS used
the questionnaire and methods developed for the American Community Survey
to collect demographic, social, economic, and housing data from a national
sample of 700,000 households. Group quarters were not included in the sample.
The C2SS was conducted in 1,203 counties with monthly samples of about 58,000
housing units. Economic, demographic, and housing characteristics from the
Census 2000 Supplementary Survey are reported for the United
States as a whole, the 50 states, and the
.
The Census 2000
Supplementary Survey is not directly comparable with the 1990 Census for several
reasons, one being that the former did not include group quarters. This may understate some categories such as
walking.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOC,
U.S. Census Bureau, Demographic Surveys Division
Internet: http://www.census.gov
Gas and hazardous liquid pipeline data
U.S. fatality
and injury data for natural gas pipelines and hazardous liquid pipelines are
based on reports filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office
of Pipeline Safety (OPS) under 49 CFR 191. Accidents must be reported as soon
as possible, but no later than 30 days after discovery. Undetected releases
are a possible source of error; even if subsequently detected and reported,
it may not be possible to accurately reconstruct the accident. Property damage
figures are estimates.
Gas pipeline
incidents involve: 1) releases of gas from a pipeline or liquefied natural
gas (LNG) or gas from an LNG facility that results in a) death or personal
injury necessitating in-patient hospitalization, or b) estimated property
damage, including cost of gas lost, of the operator or others, or both, of
$50,000 or more; 2) an event that results in an emergency shutdown of an LNG
facility; or 3) an event that is significant, in the judgment of the operator,
even though it did not meet the criteria of 1) or 2).
For hazardous
liquids pipelines, an accident report is required for each failure in a pipeline
system in which there is a release of the hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide
transported resulting in any of the following: 1) explosion or fire not intentionally
set by the operator; 2) loss of 50 or more barrels (8 or more cubic meters)
of hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide; 3) escape to the atmosphere of more
than 5 barrels (0.8 cubic meters) a day of highly volatile liquids; 4) death
of any person; 5) bodily harm to any person resulting in one or more of the
following: a) loss of consciousness, b) an individual being carried from the
scene, c) medical treatment, or d) disability which prevents the discharge
of normal duties or the pursuit of normal activities beyond the day of the
accident; or 6) estimated property damage, including cost of clean-up and
recovery, value of lost product, and damage to the property of the operator
or others, or both, exceeding $50,000.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety
Internet: http://ops.dot.gov
Government transportation revenue and expenditure data
The U.S. Department
of Commerce (USDOC), U.S. Census Bureau conducts an Annual Survey of Government
Finances. Alternatively, every five years, in years ending in a ‘2’ or ‘7’,
a Census of Governments, including a finance portion, is conducted. The survey
coverage includes all state and local governments in the United
States. For both the Census and annual survey,
the finance detail data is equivalent, encompassing the entire range of government
finance activities—revenue, expenditure, debt, and assets.
The data collection
for the annual survey uses two methods: mail canvas and central collection
from state sources. Data for local governments includes county, municipal,
township, special district, and school district data. Data for state governments
are compiled from state government audits, budgets, and other financial reports
into the classification categories used for reporting by the Census Bureau.
Reporting of
government finances by the Census Bureau involves presentation of data in
terms of uniform categories. While often similar to, or identical to, the
classification used by the state or local government, there could be instances
in which a significant difference exists between the name of a state or local
financial item and the final category to which it is assigned by the Census
Bureau.
Like financial
transactions are combined. The financial categories for revenue involve grouping
of items by source. Revenue items of the same kind are merged. Financial transactions
for expenditures are classified both by function and by object category. Debt
items are classified by term (short- and long-term), as well as by type of
debt and, to a limited extent, by purpose. Assets also are put into uniform
categories, grouped by type of holding, with holdings for insurance trust
systems grouped separately from general government.
The share of
government sector financial totals contributed by a state government or by
local governments differs materially from one state to another. Users can
review the Government Finance and Employment Classification Manual
for additional information regarding the financial categories.
The financial amounts in the tables and files are statistical in nature and
do not represent accounting statements or conditions.
The local government
statistics are developed from a sample survey. Therefore, the local totals,
as well as state and local aggregates, are considered estimated amounts subject
to sampling error. State government finance data are not subject to sampling.
Consequently, state-local aggregates for individual states are more reliable
(on a relative standard error basis) than the local government estimates they
include.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOC,
U.S. Census Bureau, Finance
Branch
Print Sources:
USDOC, U.S.
Census Bureau, Federal Aid to States: 2000
Internet: http://www.census.gov
Hazardous materials incidents data
Incidents resulting
in certain unintentional releases of hazardous materials must be reported
under 49 CFR 171.16. Each carrier must submit a report to the USDOT, Research
and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) within 30 days of the incident,
including information on the mode of transportation involved, results of the
incident, and a narrative description of the accident. These reports are generally
made available on RSPA’s incident database within 90 days of receipt.
Fatalities and
injuries are counted only if directly caused by a hazardous material. For
example, a truck operator killed by impact forces during a motor vehicle crash
would not be counted as a hazardous-material fatality. RSPA contacts the submitting
carrier by telephone to verify all reported fatalities.
Although RSPA
acknowledges that there is some level of underreporting, it believes that
the underreporting is mostly limited to small, nonserious incidents. The reporting
requirements were extended to intrastate highway carriers on October 1, 1998, and the response rate
from this new group is expected to increase over time. Property damage figures
are estimates determined by the carrier prior to the 30-day reporting deadline,
and are generally not subsequently updated. Property damage figures, therefore,
may underestimate actual damages.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Hazardous Materials
Planning and Analysis
Print source:
USDOT, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Hazardous Materials
Safety, Hazmat Summary by State for Calendar Year 2000.
Washington, :
2001
Internet: http://hazmat.dot.gov
Highway mileage, condition, and use, driver licenses, and highway vehicle
registrations data
Data on roadway
mileage, condition, and use are extracted from the Highway Performance Monitoring
System (HPMS), which uses a stratified simple random sample of highway links
(small sections of roadway) selected from state inventory files. The HPMS
sample was designed as a fixed sample to minimize data collection costs, but
adjustments to maintain representativeness are carried out periodically. The
HPMS also consists of universe reporting (a complete census) for the Interstate
and the National Highway System, and tabular summary reporting of limited
information.
Data are collected
independently by the 50 states, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs),
and lower jurisdictions. Many of the geometric data items rarely change, such
as number of lanes; others change frequently, such as traffic. The U.S. Department
of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides guidelines
for data collection in the HPMS Field Manual, which the states follow
to varying extents depending on matters such as staff, resources, state perspective,
uses of the data, and state/MPO/local needs for the data. State Departments
of Transportation (DOTs) report HPMS data annually to the FHWA.
HPMS data are
subject to sampling and nonsampling error. Nonsampling error is the major
concern with these data. For some of the most variable and important data
items, such as traffic, guidelines for measurement and data collection have
been produced. States have the option of using the guidelines or using their
own procedures. Many data items are difficult and costly to collect and are
reported as estimates not based on direct measurement. The data are collected
and reported by many entities and individuals within the responsible organizations.
Most do a reasonably good job, but staff turnover, cost, equipment issues,
etc., can create difficulties.
States provide
vehicle registration data to the FHWA. Vehicle registration data are shown
on a calendar-year basis. Efforts are
made to exclude transfers, re-registrations, and any other factors that could
result in duplication in the vehicle counts. Registration practices for commercial
vehicles differ greatly among the states. Some states register a tractor-semitrailer
combination as a single unit; others register the tractor and the semitrailer
separately. Some states register buses with trucks or automobiles, while many
states do not report house and light utility trailers separately from commercial
trailers or semitrailers. Some states do not require registration of car
or light utility trailers. In some instances, FHWA has supplemented the data
supplied by the states with information obtained from other sources.
States also provide
driver licensing data to the FHWA. Although efforts are made to minimize license
duplication, drivers who move from one state to another are sometimes counted
in both states until the license from the previous state of residence expires.
Problems with the data also arise from the fact that: 1) some individuals
obtain their drivers licenses in states other than those of legal residence;
2) some individuals fraudulently obtain multiple licenses; 3) not all individuals
who drive are licensed; and 4) the purging of expired licenses or licenses
from deceased individuals is not performed on a continual basis.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Federal Highway
Administration, Office of Highway Policy Information
Print source:
USDOT, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics.
Washington, :
Annual issues.
Internet: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/index.html
Highway safety data
Fatalities:
Highway fatality data are extracted from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System
(FARS), which is compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT),
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data are gathered
from a census of police accident reports (PARs), state vehicle registration
files, state drivers licensing files, state highway department data, vital
statistics, death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, hospital
medical reports, and emergency medical service reports. A separate form is
completed for each fatal crash. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is estimated
when not known. Statistical procedures used for unknown data in FARS can be
found in the NHTSA report, A
Method for Estimating Posterior BAC Distributions for Persons Involved in
Fatal Traffic Accidents, DOT HS 807 094 (Washington, DC: July 1986).
Data are collected
from relevant state agencies and electronically submitted for inclusion in
the FARs database on a continuous basis.
Cross-verification of PARs with death certificates helps prevent undercounting.
Moreover, when data are entered, they are checked automatically for acceptable
range values and consistency, enabling quick corrections when necessary. Several
programs continually monitor the data for completeness and accuracy. Periodically,
sample cases are analyzed for accuracy and consistency.
FARS
data do not include motor vehicle fatalities on nonpublic roads. These are
thought to account for about 2 percent or fewer of the total motor vehicle
fatalities per year.
Injuries and
crashes: NHTSA’s General Estimates System (GES) data are
a nationally representative sample of police-reported crashes that contributed
to an injury or fatality or resulted in property damage and involved at least
one motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway. GES data collectors randomly
sample PARs and forward copies to a central contractor for coding into a standard
GES system format. Documents such as police diagrams or supporting text provided
by the officers might be further reviewed to complete a data entry. A NHTSA
study of injuries from motor vehicle crashes estimated the total count of
nonfatal injuries at over 5 million compared with the GES’s estimate of 3.2
million in 1998.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, National
Center for Statistics and Analysis
Print source:
USDOT, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety
Facts. Washington,
: Annual issues.
Internet: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
International visitors data
Data on international
visitors to the United States
are based on international arrivals by air to the United
States (excluding those from Canada
and Mexico).
Information is derived from the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (INS)
Visitor Arrivals Program (I-94) and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Tourism
Industries Office’s Survey of International Air Travelers. The survey obtains
data on overseas travel patterns, characteristics, and spending patterns of
international travelers to and from the United
States. Between 69,000 and 95,000 travelers
are surveyed each year. The survey results are weighted so they represent
the international travel populations of U.S.
residents and non-residents based upon Immigration and Naturalization Service
data.
Additional information:
Contact: U.S.
Department of Commerce (USDOC), International Trade Administration, Tourism
Industries Office
Print source:
USDOC, International Trade Administration, Tourism Industries Office, Overseas Visitors to Select U.S. States and
Territories. Washington, :
Annual issues; and USDOC, International Trade
Administration, Tourism Industries Office, Overseas Visitors to Select
U.S. Cities/Hawaiian Islands.
Washington, :
Annual issues.
Internet: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/
Passenger border crossing data
U.S. Custom Service
personnel collect passenger border-crossing entry data for all U.S.
land, air, and maritime ports. These numbers reflect all entries, and it is
not possible to divide these data into separate entries for same-day and overnight
travel or by country of residence for the traveler. Additionally, for border-crossing
figures, the total number of people is not the number of unique individuals,
but rather indicates the number of border crossings. Multiple crossings by
the same individual count as multiple border crossings.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Transportation Analysis
Internet: http://www.bts.gov
Railroad industry and shipments data
The Association
of American Railroads (AAR) database aggregates data from several sources
concerning the freight railroad industry and movement of freight, both nationally
and statewide. The state-specific data include commerce, employment, and financial
contributions.
The primary source
of data for Class I railroads is Schedule 700 of the R-1 Annual Report to
the Surface Transportation Board (STB) by individual carriers (100 percent
reporting) and the 2000 Carload Waybill Sample. The primary source of data
for non-Class I railroads is AAR’s Profiles
of U.S. Railroads from statistics supplied annually by nearly all operating
U.S. freight
railroads. Some of the data are estimated based on more aggregated, national
figures.
The STB defines
Class I railroads as having operating revenues at or above a threshold indexed
to a base of $250 million (1991) and adjusted annually in concert with changes
in the Railroad Freight Rate Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Declassification from Class I status occurs when a railroad falls below the
applicable threshold for three consecutive years. Although few in number,
Class I railroads account for over 90 percent of the industry’s revenue.
The AAR
determines the number of non-Class I railroads through an annual survey sent
to each U.S.
freight railroad.
Historical reliability
may vary due to changes in the railroad industry, including bankruptcies,
mergers, and declassification by the STB. Small data errors may also have
occurred because of independent rounding in this series by the AAR.
Additional
information:
Contact: Association
of American Railroads, Policy and Economics Department
Internet: http://www.aar.org
Railroad safety data
Railroads are
required to file a report for each accident or incident to the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA). These include: 1) train accidents, reported on Form
F 6180.54, comprised of collisions, derailments, and other events involving
the operation of on-track equipment and causing reportable damage above an
established threshold ($6,600 in 1998); 2) highway-rail grade crossing incidents,
reported on Form F 6180.57, involving impact between railroad on-track equipment
and highway users at crossings; and 3) other incidents, reported on Form F
6180.55a, involving all other reportable incidents or exposures that cause
a fatality or injury to any person or an occupational illness to a railroad
employee.
Railroads are
required by FRA regulations to use the current FRA Guide for
Preparing Accident/Incident Reports when preparing reports.
The Systems Support
Division of FRA maintains the Railroad Accident/Incident Reporting System
(RAIRS), consisting of four databases: rail equipment, injury/illness, grade-crossing
accidents, and railroad summary (freight and passenger). These databases include
information on all railroad accidents, grade-crossing accidents, railroad
employee casualties, and any other injuries on railroad property, and provide
the basis for accident analyses and assessment as well as annual reports.
The databases are updated monthly from information submitted by the railroads.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety
Print publication:
USDOT, Federal Railroad Administration, Railroad Safety
Statistics. Washington,
: Annual issues.
Internet: http://www.fra.dot.gov
Recreational boating safety and vehicles data
The U.S. Coast
Guard, of the U.S. Department of Transportation, collects data on recreational
boating accidents from two sources: 1) Boating Accident Report (BAR) data
forwarded to the Coast Guard by jurisdictions with an approved boat numbering
and casualty reporting system, and 2) reports of Coast Guard investigations
of fatal boating accidents that occurred on waters under federal jurisdiction.
Recreational Boating Accident Investigation data are used if submitted to
the Coast Guard and are relied on as much as possible to provide accident
statistics. In the absence of investigations, information is collected from
reports filed by boat operators.
Boat operators
are required to file a BAR if an accident results in 1) loss of life, 2) personal
injury that requires medical treatment beyond first aid, 3) damage to the
vessel and other property exceeding $500, or 4) complete loss of the vessel.
Boat operators
are required to report their accidents to authorities in the state where the
accident occurred. States with approved boat numbering systems furnish the
Coast Guard with BAR data. The minimum reporting requirements are set by federal
regulation, but states are allowed to have stricter requirements. The Coast
Guard reports recreational boating safety data in the report Boating Statistics, which only covers accidents meeting the
federal minimum reporting requirements.
The statistics
in Boating Statistics cover boating accidents
reported on waters of joint federal and state jurisdiction, and exclusive
state jurisdiction.
The Coast Guard
believes over 90 percent of fatal accidents are included in Boating Statistics. A smaller percentage of nonfatal accidents
are reported because of reporting thresholds, ignorance of the law, and difficulties
enforcing the law. Federal law does not require the reporting of accidents
on private waters where states have no jurisdiction. Reports of accidents
on such waters are included when received by the Coast Guard if they satisfy
the other requirements of inclusion. Accidents excluded are those in which
the boat was used as a platform for other activities (e.g., swimming), and
those in which a person dies of natural causes aboard a boat. However, the
data do include accidents involving people in the water who are struck by
their boat or another boat.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
U.S. Coast Guard, Office
of Boating Safety
Print source:
USDOT, U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Boating Safety, Boating Statistics,
Washington, DC: Annual issues.
Internet: http://www.uscgboating.org
Transborder surface freight data
The Transborder
Surface Freight Dataset is extracted from the Census Foreign Trade Statistics
Program and made available by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Import
and export data are extracted from administrative records required by the
Departments of Commerce and Treasury. This dataset incorporates all shipments
entering or exiting the United
States by surface modes of transport (that
is, other than air or maritime vessel) to and from Canada
or Mexico.
Prior to January 1997, this dataset also included transhipments in its detailed
tables, that is, shipments entering or exiting the United
States by way of U.S. Customs ports on the
northern or southern borders, even when the actual origin or final destination
of the goods was other than Canada
or Mexico.
Shipments that neither originate nor terminate in the United
States (i.e., intransit shipments) are beyond
the scope of this dataset because they are not considered U.S.
international trade shipments.
Users should
be aware that the trade data fields (such as value and commodity classification)
are typically more rigorously reviewed than transportation data fields (i.e.,
mode of transportation and port of entry/exit). Users should also be aware
that the use of foreign trade data to describe physical transportation flows
might not be direct. For example, this dataset provides surface transportation
information for individual Customs districts and ports on the northern and
southern borders. However, because of filing procedures for trade documents,
these ports may or may not reflect where goods physically crossed the border.
This is because the filer of information may choose to file trade documents
at one port, while shipments actually enter or exit at another port.
Import data are
generally more accurate than export data. This is primarily due to the fact
that Customs uses import documents for enforcement purposes, while it performs
no similar function for exports.
Additional
information:
Contact: USDOT,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Transportation Analysis
Internet: http://www.bts.gov
Transit operating, financial, and safety data
Transit data
are from the National Transit Database (NTD) produced by the USDOT, Federal
Transit Administration (FTA). Data are collected from transit agencies that
receive Urbanized Area Formula Program funds. Transit operators that do not
report to FTA are those that do not receive federal funding, typically private,
small, and rural operators. FTA reviews and validates information submitted
by individual transit agencies. Reliability may vary because some transit
agencies cannot obtain accurate information or may interpret certain data
definitions differently than intended.
In 2000, 592
agencies reported to the NTD. Of that total, 67 transit agencies received
exemptions from detailed reporting because they operated 9 or fewer vehicles,
and 7 were excluded because their data were incomplete. Thus, 518 individual
reporters were included in the NTD accounting for 90 to 95 percent of transit
passenger-miles.
Data are collected
on a range of variables including capital and operating funding, transit service
supplied and consumed, and transit safety and security. Transit operators
must report fatalities, injuries, accidents, incidents, and property damage
in excess of $1,000.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Federal Transit Administration
Print source:
USDOT, Federal Transit Administration, Data Tables. Washington,
: Annual issues; and USDOT, Federal Transit
Administration, National Transit Database
Reporting Manual. Washington,
: Annual issues.
Internet: http://www.fta.dot.gov
Transportation establishment, employees, and payroll data
Data on employees,
establishments, and payroll are taken from County Business Patterns, a database
of employment in the United States
using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Data are
collected annually. Data are extracted from the Business Register, the Census
Bureau’s file of all known single and multi-establishment companies. The Annual
Company Organization Survey and quinquennial Economic Censuses provide individual
establishment data for multi-location firms. Data for single-location firms
are obtained from various programs conducted by the Census Bureau, such as
the Economic Censuses, the Annual Survey of Manufactures, and Current Business
Surveys. They are also obtained from administrative records
of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Social Security Administration
(SSA), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Additional information:
Contact: USDOC,
U.S. Census Bureau, Economic
Planning and Coordination Division
Print source:
USDOC, U.S.
Census Bureau, [State]: County Business Patterns 1999.
CBP/99-6. Washington, :
2001.
Internet: http://www.census.gov/epcd/cbp/view/cbpview.html
Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey
The Vehicle Inventory
and Use Survey (VIUS) collects data on the physical and operational characteristics
of private and commercial trucks in the United
States. The 1997 VIUS sampled about 131,000
trucks from an estimated universe of over 75 million trucks. The sample excludes
vehicles owned by federal, state, and local government including ambulances,
buses, motor homes, farm tractors, unpowered trailer units, and trucks reported
to have been sold, junked, or wrecked prior to July 1, 1996. Light trucks
registered as cars, as is the practice in many states, were included. Unregistered
trucks used off-road are not included. Census delivered a mail-out/mail-back
survey to the owner identified in the vehicle registration records. Data collection
is staggered as state records become available. Owners report data only for
the vehicles selected. The response rate for the 1997 VIUS was about 85 percent.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOC,
U.S. Census Bureau, Service
Sector Statistics Division
Print source:
USDOC, U.S.
Census Bureau, [State]: 1997 Vehicle
Inventory and Use Survey. EC97TV-[State].
Washington,
: 1999.
Internet: http://www.census.gov/svsd/www/tiusview.html
Waterborne imports and vessel data
The U.S. Department
of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) classifies merchant-based
vessels by size and type and reports this information in its annual publication,
Merchant Fleets of the World.
MARAD compiles these figures from a data service provided by Lloyd’s Maritime
Information Service. The parent company, Lloyd’s Register (LR), collects data
from several sources, including its offices around the world, data transfers
and agreements with other classification societies, questionnaires to ship
owners and shipbuilders, feedback from government agencies, and input from
port agents.
MARAD’s Office
of Statistical and Economic Analysis maintains the waterborne databank used
to compile the annual import and export statistics from monthly and quarterly
data provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. MARAD publishes the data
in reports of vessel movements, trade and cargo by type of service, U.S.
and foreign port, country of origin/destination, commodity, value, weight,
and containerized cargo.
MARAD distributes
the reports and performs special tabulations and customized maritime data
reports created for other government agencies and the private sector on a
reimbursable basis. MARAD also provides these services for historic data and
maintains the Schedule K Classification of Foreign Ports by Geographic Trade
Area and Country.
Additional information:
Contact: USDOT,
Maritime Administration, Office of Statistical and Economic Analysis
Print source:
USDOT, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World.
Internet: http://www.marad.dot.gov
Waterborne shipments data
The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Navigation Data Center (NDC) collects data on
waterborne commodity and vessel movements, domestic commercial vessel characteristics,
port and waterway facilities, and navigation dredging projects.
The NDC’s databases
contain information on physical characteristics, infrastructure, and commodities
for principal facilities on the U.S.
coast, Great Lakes, and inland ports. The data consists
of listings of port area’s waterfront facilities, including information on
berthing, cranes, transit sheds, grain elevators, marine repair plants, fleeting
areas, and docking and storage facilities.
All vessel operators
of record report their domestic waterborne traffic movements to the Corps
via ENG Forms 3925 and 3925b. Cargo movements are reported according to points
of loading and unloading. Excluded cargo movements are: 1) cargo carried on
general ferries, 2) coal and petroleum products loaded from shore facilities
directly into vessels for fuel use, 3) military cargo moved in U.S. Department
of Defense vessels, and 4) cargo weighing less than 100 tons moved on government
equipment. The Corps calculates ton-miles by multiplying the cargo’s tonnage
by the distance between points of loading and unloading.
An annual survey
of companies that operate inland waterway vessels is the principal source
of data for inland non self-propelled vessels, self-propelled vessels, and
flag passenger and cargo vessels. More than 3,000 surveys are sent to these
companies, and response rates are typically above 90 percent.
Additional information:
Contact: U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce
Statistics Center
Print source:
U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the
United States. New Orleans, :
Annual issues.
Internet: http://www.wrsc.usace.army.mil
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