Transportation Financial Statistics for FY 1982-94 Now Available

Contact DOT 164-97 BTS Product Line 202-366-DATA Basav Sen Technical 617-494-3751

Wednesday, October 15, 1997 -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater todayannounced the release of Federal, State, and Local Transportation Financial Statistics: Fiscal Years 1982-94, a report that details transportation-related revenue and expenditures by mode and government jurisdiction.

"Transportation revenues and expenditures are a significant part of government budgets and finances," said Slater. "This report enables people to compare how our transportation dollars are being spent."

Federal financial statistics for this report are compiled from the Budget of the United States, while the primary source for state and local statistics for all modes, except rail and pipeline, is the Census Bureau publication, Government Finances, which is issued annually.

The report identifies the following general trends:

• Transportation represents a significantly larger share of state and local revenues and expenditures than it does of federal revenues and expenditures.
• The growth in federal transportation revenues is driving the increase in total transportation revenues, while both state and local governments are the dominant sources of transportation spending.
• State revenue funds the largest share of the highway program, while local governments carry the burden for transit and water. Federal funds are the greatest source of revenues for air and pipeline safety programs.
• The highway program generates more revenue and expenditure than any of the other modes and is consistently and substantially user-financed. At the state level, motor fuel taxes contribute the most toward highways; at the local level, regulation and toll highway charges raise the most revenue.

BTS Director, Dr. T.R. Lakshmanan, said "This publication enables transportation planners and analysts at all levels to compare detailed financial statistics for all modes of transportation."

The report is available in both printed and electronic forms. To order printed copies, call (202) 366-DATA, or fax (202) 366-3640, or write to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room 3430, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590. An electronic version of the report is available on the Bureau’s Internet site at http://www.bts.gov.