| 1887 |
The Interstate Commerce Commission is established, initiating
the collection of data from carriers to support regulation. |
| 1920–1921 |
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins publishing data
on water transportation commerce and ports. |
| 1934 |
The Federal-Aid Highway Act authorizes funds to be spent
by state highway departments on surveys and economic analyses. |
| 1944–1970 |
The largest metropolitan areas conduct large-scale studies
of urban travel and transportation capacity. |
| 1945 |
The Bureau of Public Roads (predecessor to the Federal
Highway Administration—FHWA) publishes the first Highway Statistics
report. |
| 1957–1963 |
The U.S. Census Bureau initiates the Census of Transportation,
including surveys of trucks, unregulated motor carriers, commodity movements,
and long-distance passenger travel. |
| 1958 |
The Federal Aviation Administration Act mandates collection
of airline financial and operating statistics. |
| 1960 |
The U.S. Census Bureau begins to collect journey-to-work
data as part of the Decennial Census of Population and Housing. |
| 1962 |
The Federal-Aid Highway Act establishes a data-rich comprehensive
planning process for metropolitan areas. |
| 1966 |
The Department of Transportation (DOT) Act creates DOT
and requires the Secretary of Transportation to “. . . promote and undertake
the development, collection, and dissemination of technological, statistical,
economic, and other information relevant to domestic and international transportation.” |
| 1968 |
FHWA begins publishing a biennial highway needs report. |
| 1969 |
FHWA initiates the first Nationwide Personal Transportation
Survey. DOT summarizes the state of statistics in Transportation Information:
A Report to the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives,
from the Secretary of Transportation (the Red Book). The U.S. Coast
Guard initiates the Boating Accident Report Database. |
| 1970–1971 |
DOT publishes the first edition of National Transportation
Statistics. Passage of the National Environmental Policy Act and Clean
Air Act highlight the need for environmental data related to transportation.
The U.S. Census Bureau significantly expands the content and geographic
detail of journey-to-work data collected under the Decennial Census of Population
and Housing. |
| 1972–1974 |
DOT publishes two National Transportation Reports
in which data are compiled on all modes. |
| 1973 |
The U.S. Coast Guard establishes the basis for the Marine
Safety Information Management System, which later becomes the Marine Information
for Safety in Law Enforcement System, after the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act mandates the reporting of any discharge of harmful quantities
of oil or hazardous substances. |
| 1974 |
The National Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act
mandates collection of data on the transit industry under Section 15. Energy
data becomes a major concern with the first oil embargo. |
| 1975 |
The Federal Railroad Administration establishes the Railroad
Accident/Incident Reporting System database. The Fatal Accident Reporting
System is initiated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a survey of domestic transportation of foreign
trade. |
| 1977 |
A national transportation atlas and DOT National Transportation
Report is published under the title Trends and Choices. The U.S.
Census Bureau conducts the quinquennial Commodity Transportation Survey
and National Travel Survey. The Research and Special Programs Administration
receives the Hazardous Materials Information System initiated by the DOT’s
Hazardous Materials Regulations Board in 1971. The Federal Transit Act amendments
create the National Transit Database Reporting System on mass transportation
financial and operating information. |
| 1978–1980 |
Aviation, railroads, and motor carriers undergo significant
economic deregulation, and many data-collection programs by regulatory agencies
are subsequently reduced or terminated. |
| 1979 |
The National Transportation Policy Study Commission calls
for a continuing commitment to the development of transportation statistics. |
| 1982 |
The U.S. Census Bureau terminates the quinquennial collection
of data on commodity flows and passenger travel due to funding and methodological
problems. |
| 1990 |
DOT publishes Moving America: New Directions, New
Opportunities—A Statement of National Transportation Policy Strategies for
Action, which calls for a renewed commitment to transportation statistics. |
| 1991 |
The Transportation Research Board completes its recommendations
in its report, Data for Decisions: Requirements for National Transportation
Policy Making. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
(ISTEA) is passed, mandating the establishment of the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS). |
| 1992 |
FHWA begins work with the U.S. Census Bureau on the Commodity
Flow Survey. The DOT management order implementing the ISTEA mandate for
BTS is signed in December, and management of the Commodity Flow Survey is
transferred to BTS. |
| 1993–1995 |
BTS and the U.S. Census Bureau conduct the Commodity
Flow Survey, the American Travel Survey, and initiate the Transborder Surface
Freight Transportation program. BTS publishes its first Transportation
Statistics Annual Report and resumes publication of National Transportation
Statistics. BTS receives the surviving data functions of the Civil Aeronautics
Board. |
| 1996 |
BTS receives the motor carrier financial and operating
statistics program from the Interstate Commerce Commission. |
| 1998 |
The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)
reaffirms BTS’s data mandates and adds some new emphases including global
competitiveness, bicycle and pedestrian travel, capital stocks accounting,
the intermodal transportation database, and the National Transportation
Library. |
| 2000 |
BTS launches the monthly Omnibus Survey. The Changing
Face of Transportation, successor to the 1977 Trends and Choices
report, is published by DOT. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
receives the Motor Carrier Management Information System from FHWA and continues
the publication of motor carrier safety data. |
| 2001–2002 |
BTS and FHWA jointly conduct the National Household Travel
Survey, combining the American Travel and Nationwide Personal Transportation
surveys. BTS and the U.S. Census Bureau begin data collection for the next
Commodity Flow Survey. |
