- About OST-R
- Press Room
- Programs
- Bureau of Transportation Statistics
- Intelligent Transportation Systems
- National Transportation Library
- Positioning, Navigation and Timing & Spectrum Management
- Research, Development and Technology
- Transportation Safety Institute
- University Transportation Centers
- Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
- Publications
- Library
- Contact Us
You are here
Dictionary
Cab:
The compartment of a locomotive from which the propelling power and power brakes of the train are manually controlled.
(49CFR236)
Cab:
Portion of truck where the driver sits; tractor. The passenger compartment of a vehicle.
(ATA1)
Cab Over:
A vehicle with a substantial part of its engine located under the cab. Also known as snubnose.
(ATA1)
Cab Signal:
A signal located in engineman's compartment or cab, indicating a condition affecting the movement of a train and used in conjunction with interlocking signals and in conjunction with or in lieu of block signals.
(49CFR236)
Cab-Over-Engine:
A truck or truck-tractor, having all, or the front portion, of the engine under the cab.
(49CFR399)
Cab-Over-Engine High Profile:
A COE having the door sill step above the height of the front tires.
(49CFR399)
Cab-To-Axle Dimension:
The distance from the back of a truck cab to the center line of the rear axle. For trucks with tandem rear axles, the CA dimension is given midway between the two rear axles.
(GSA2)
Cabin Deck:
The second deck on most river steamboats. It was lined with staterooms surrounding the main cabin. It was also called the Boiler deck even though the boilers were on the cargo deck below.
(TNDOT1)
Cabin Motorboat:
Motorboats with a cabin which can be completely closed by means of doors or hatches. Large motorboats with cabins, even though referred to as yachts, are considered to be cabin motorboats.
(USCG2)
Cable Cars:
Streetcar type of passenger vehicles operating by means of an attachment to a moving cable located below the street surface and powered by engines or motors at a central location not on board the vehicles.
(FTA1)
Cableway:
A conveyor system in which carrier units run on wire cables strung between supports.
(DOI4)
Cabotage:
A law which requires coastal and intercoastal traffic to be carried by vessels belonging to the country owning the coast.
(USTTA1)
Cafe Standards:
Originally established by Congress for new automobiles and later for light trucks. Under CAFE, automobile manufacturers are required by law to produce vehicle fleets with a composite sales-weighted fuel economy not lower than the CAFE standards in a given year. For every vehicle that does not meet the standard, a fine is paid for every one-tenth of a mile per gallon that vehicle falls below the standard.
(BTS11)
Calculated Landing Time:
A term that may be used in place of tentative or actual calculated landing time, whichever applies.
(FAA4)
Calibrated Airspeed:
The indicated airspeed of an aircraft, corrected for position and instrument error. Calibrated airspeed is equal to true airspeed in standard atmosphere at sea level.
(14CFR1)
Call For Release:
Wherein the overlying Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) requires a terminal facility to initiate verbal coordination to secure Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) approval for release of a departure into the en route environment.
(FAA4)
Call Up:
Initial voice contact between a facility and an aircraft, using the identification of the unit being called and the unit initiating the call.
(FAA4)
Camp Car:
Any on-track vehicle, including outfit, camp, or bunk cars or modular homes mounted on flat cars used to house rail employees. It does not include wreck trains.
(49CFR218)
Campaign:
A Defect/Noncompliance Campaign Program carried out by the manufacturer and initiated under 46 U.S.C. 4310. Starts as a case. A campaign may involve only one boat.
(USCG1)
Canadian Minimum Navigation Performance Specification Airspace:
That portion of Canadian domestic airspace within which Minimum Performance Specifications Airspace (MNPSA) separation may be applied.
(FAA4)
Canal/Ditch:
An artificial open waterway constructed to transport water, to irrigate or drain land, to connect two or more bodies of water, or to serve as a waterway for watercraft.
(DOI3)
Canard:
The forward wing of a canard configuration and may be a fixed, movable, or variable geometry surface, with or without control surfaces.
(14CFR1)
Canard Configuration:
A configuration in which the span of the forward wing is substantially less than that of the main wing.
(14CFR1)
Cancellation of Insurance:
The withdrawal of insurance coverage by either the insurer or the insured.
(49CFR387)
Capacity:
A transportation facility's ability to accommodate a moving stream of people or vehicles in a given time period.
(FHWA21)
Capacity Per Aircraft Mile:
The average total passenger/cargo carrying capacity (tons) offered for sale per aircraft in revenue services, derived by dividing the overall available ton-miles by the total aircraft miles flown in revenue services.
(BTS5)
Cape:
A relatively extensive land area jutting into a water body, which prominently marks a change in or notably interrupts the coastal trend of that water body.
(DOI4)
Capital Employee:
An employee involved with construction or capital procurement and who has no involvement with operation of the transit system.
(APTA1)
Capital Gains or Losses, Operating Property:
Gains or losses on retirements of operating property and equipment, flight equipment expendable parts or miscellaneous materials and supplies when sold or otherwise retired in connection with a general retirement program as opposed to incidental sales performed as a service to others.
(BTS4)
Capital Gains or Losses, Other:
Gains or losses on no operating assets, investments in other than marketable equity securities, and troubled debt restructuring.
(BTS4)
Capital Program Funds:
Financial assistance from the Capital Program of 49 U.S.C. This program enables the Secretary of Transportation to make discretionary capital grants and loans to finance public transportation projects divided among fixed guideway (rail) modernization; construction of new fixed guideway systems and extensions to fixed guideway systems; and replacement, rehabilitation, and purchase of buses and rented equipment, and construction of bus-related facilities.
(FHWA21)
Capital Program Funds:
Financial assistance from the Capital Program of 49 U.S.C. (formerly Section 3). This program enables the Secretary of Transportation to make discretionary capital grants and loans to finance public transportation projects divided among fixed guideway (rail) modernization; construction of new fixed guideway systems and extensions to fixed guideway systems; and, replacement, rehabilitation, and purchase of buses and rented equipment, and construction of bus-related facilities.
(FTA1)
Capital Stock (transportation):
Includes structures owned by either the public or private sectors, such as bridges, stations, highways, streets, and ports; and equipment, such as automobiles, aircraft, and ships.
(BTS12)
Capitalized Interest:
Adjustment to income for interest capitalized on funds actually committed as equipment purchase deposits or actually used to finance the construction or acquisition of operating property.
(BTS4)
Capsizing:
Overturning of a vessel. The bottom must be uppermost, except on the case of a sailboat, which lies on its side.
(USCG2)
Captain of the Port:
The officer of the Coast Guard, under the command of a District Commander, designated by the Commandant for the purpose of giving immediate direction to Coast Guard law enforcement activities within an assigned area. The term Captain of the Port includes an authorized representative of the Captain of the Port.
(49CFR171)
Car:
1) Any unit of on-track equipment designed to be hauled by locomotives; 2) Any unit of on-track work equipment such as a track motorcar, highway-rail vehicle, push car, crane, ballast tamping machine, etc.; 3) A railway car designed to carry freight, railroad personnel, or passengers. This includes boxcars, covered hopper cars, flatcars, refrigerator cars, gondola cars, hopper cars, tank cars, cabooses, stock cars, ventilation cars, and special cars. It also includes on-track maintenance equipment.
(FRA2) (FRA3) (FRA4)
Car Shop Repair Track Area:
One or more tracks within an area in which the testing, servicing, repair, inspection, or rebuilding of railroad rolling equipment is under the exclusive control of mechanical department personnel.
(49CFR218)
Car-Mile (Rail):
The movement of a railroad car a distance of 1 mile. An empty or loaded car-mile refers to a mile run by a freight car with or without a load. In the case of intermodal movements, the designation of empty or loaded refers to whether the trailers/containers are moved with or without a waybill.
(BTS11)
Carbon Dioxide:
1) A fluid consisting of more than 90 percent carbon dioxide molecules compressed to a supercritical state. (49CFR195) 2) A colorless, odorless gas. It is not a liquid under standard temperature and pressure.
(FHWA21)
Carburetor:
A fuel delivery device for producing a proper mixture of gasoline vapor and air, and delivering it to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine. Gasoline is gravity fed from a reservoir bowl into a throttle bore, where it is allowed to evaporate into the stream of air being inducted by the engine. The fuel efficiency of carburetors is more temperature dependent than fuel injection systems.
(DOE4)
Cardinal Altitude:
"Odd" or "Even" thousand-foot altitudes or flight levels; e.g., 5,000, 6,000, 7,000, FL 250, FL 260, FL 270.
(FAA4)