Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Directors

Since its establishment, BTS has had four directors:^[3]

1. T. R. Lakshmanan, 1994–1998
2. Ashish Sen, 1998–2002
3. Richard Kowalewski (acting), 2002–2006
4. Steven Dillingham, 2006–2011
5. Patricia S. Hu, 2011–2025
6. Rolf Schmitt (acting), 2025–2026

Data catalogs

Users can access and explore BTS's collection of intermodal transportation databases through TranStats and the BTS Data Inventory; the latter also allows users to create their own visualizations from selected BTS data.

Office of Airline Information

BTS' Office of Airline Information is responsible for publishing regular reports—often monthly or quarterly—on airline performance in the United States. Topics include airline financials, origins and destinations, passenger traffic, on-time performance, and mishandled baggage.^[4] It is the direct successor to the statistics office from the former Civil Aeronautics Board.

One popular airline database included in the TranStats collection is the airline on-time performance database, which includes on-time performance of every flight, airline, and airport in the United States.

National Transportation Atlas Database

BTS maintains the National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), an open online repository of national-level geographic information systems data and applications related to transportation in the United States.^[5]

National Transportation Library

Another BTS product is the National Transportation Library (NTL), an online repository of transportation-centric research, reports, and datasets. Documents, which include products internal and external to the US Department of Transportation, can be accessed through a platform called RosaP.^[6]

Freight Analysis Framework

The FAF is a database with estimations of freight flows through the United States' transportation system, developed in collaboration with the Federal Highway Administration. Data are available at the federal, state, and metropolitan areas, representing the move of goods from 42 commodity types and across all modes of transport. Freight is quantified by weight, value, and activity, and are based on data inputs from the BTS Commodity Flow Survey, input-export records, and data acquired directly from key industries.^[7]

Transportation Statistics Annual Report

Required by the legislation that authorized BTS, the TSAR is published every year and contains high-level descriptions of the overall status of the national transportation system from the previous year. More specifically, it features information, statistics, and figures on core facets of transportation in the United States, including passenger travel, freight and logistics, economics, reliability, safety, energy use, and environmental impacts.^[8] Outside these theme areas, it also provides commentary on the state of transportation statistics and data production and recommends strategies to close or improve data gaps.

Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey

The VIUS is a regular survey of vehicle ownership, intended to better understand physical and operational characteristics of the wide range of vehicles that use the national roadway system, guide infrastructure investments, track changes in vehicle technology, and to stay tuned to critical safety needs. Done collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, Federal Highway Administration, and the Department of Energy, the most recent version was completed in 2022 and sampled data the owners of over 150,000 vehicles, including pick-up trucks, SUVs, minivans, light vans, straight trucks, and truck tractors.^[9]

Intercity Bus Atlas

Since 2017, BTS has been the home for the Intercity Bus Atlas, a map of all scheduled intercity passenger bus services in the United States. Using General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) feeds collected from participating carriers, the Atlas shows the stops and routes being operated and is updated on a quarterly basis. The ICBA replaces defunct intercity bus maps and schedule services (namely Russell's Official National Motor Coach Guide) and shows the density, frequency, and extent of these operations across the country.^[10]

Other products

State and country codes

The BTS maintains its own list of codes, so-called World Area Codes (WAC), for state and country codes.