National Transportation Atlas Databases - 1996 Now Available

Contact DOT 168-96 BTS Product Line 202-366-DATA

Thursday, July 18, 1996 -- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña today announced the release of National Transportation Atlas Databases--1996 (NTAD96) from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

"President Clinton told us to apply common sense to government activities and respond to the needs of our customers," Secretary Peña said. "By consolidating all of the department's transportation network and facility data bases on one CD-ROM, BTS has made it easier for everyone who needs to produce high quality, up-to-date maps and conduct national level transportation analyses."

BTS Director Dr. T. R. Lakshmanan said, "NTAD96 provides the starting point for the transportation component of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) framework. In the future, we hope to update and enhance the NTAD with more detailed transportation data provided by state and local governments and the private sector through cooperative partnership arrangements.

NTAD96 is a set of national geographic databases of transportation facilities. These databases include geospatial information for transportation modal networks and intermodal terminals, and related attribute information. Each database is documented according to metadata content standards as prescribed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). This is the second release of the atlas. This year s version includes updated geography and attribute files and improved file formats for ease of use. The data on this CD-ROM support research, analysis, and decision making across all modes of transportation. The databases are most useful at the national level, but have major applications at the regional, state and local scale throughout the transportation community.

This CD-ROM will provide transportation planners and researchers with valuable geographic and attribute information for 18 datasets. These datasets include Public Use Airports, Trailer On Flat Car and Container On Flat Car Terminals, Amtrak Stations, Water Ports and Facilities, Place Names, the National Highway Planning Network, National Railway Network, Fixed Guideway Transit Network plus High Occupancy Vehicle Roadways, Commercial Air Segment Network, U.S. States with Integrated Shoreline, National Parks, Federally Adjusted Urbanized Areas, Bureau of Economic Analysis Economic Areas and more.

These databases do not now provide explicit connections between modes and terminals. In the future, BTS will include data on intermodal connectivity, additional attributes, and passenger and commodity flow information.

NTAD96 is available in both MS-DOS and UNIX compatible CD- ROM format. The databases are designed for use within a geographic information system. However, to ease their use in any database, spreadsheet, or other software package, the files are in ASCII format.

The databases were compiled from many parts of the department as well as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service.

To order a copy of the CD-ROM, contact the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by phone on (202) 366-DATA, or by FAX on (202) 366-3640, or by writing the Bureau of Transportation Statistics at BTS/DOT, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590. The database may also be accessed on the Internet via the World Wide Web at http://www.bts.gov, under Geographic Information Services.