| Contents Notes |
"The U.S. transportation system moves some 5.5 trillion passenger-miles of traffic each year, mainly on the nation's highways, and approximately 4.6 trillion ton-miles of freight (BTS 2010). Transportation is a major industry in its own right, but its primary purpose is to provide mobility and access to millions of travelers and to move goods rapidly and reliably in support of economic activity. Policy and decision makers in both the public and private sectors need to know how well the system is performing; what changes in travel patterns can be expected with changes in demographics and logistics; how travelers and shippers respond to changes in the system and external factors; and what impact travel patterns have on safety, congestion, energy use, and the environment. Unfortunately, many of the policy and investment decisions facing transportation decision makers in such crucial areas as improving travel safety, alleviating congestion, increasing the energy efficiency of travel, and reducing transportation-related air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions often are made on the basis of travel data that are lacking in modal coverage, timeliness, and geographic detail. Moreover, the most comprehensive passenger and freight travel data are collected in periodic federal surveys that are highly contingent upon shifting political and funding priorities and not infrequently in danger of cancellation. The purpose of this study is to assess the state of passenger and freight travel data at the federal, state, and local levels and to make recommendations for an achievable and sustainable system for estimating personal and freight travel to support public and private transportation planning and decision making. The report is organized in 5 chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 provides an overview of current travel data programs and critical gaps in coverage and characteristics, drawing on prior studies, as well as briefings to the study committee from data providers and users (see Appendix B for a full listing of these briefings and Appendix C for a list of selected references; Appendix E provides a more detailed discussion of these programs). Chapter 3 examines barriers to data collection and opportunities for overcoming these barriers - from using technology more effectively to employing alternative methods for data collection. Chapter 4 introduces the committee's proposal for a National Travel Data Program to better meet the travel data needs of policy and decision makers and details how the program should be managed and funded. The final chapter presents the committee's key findings and recommendations for a strategy for improved passenger and freight travel data."--Pub. desc. |
