THE MISSION

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) provides timely, accurate, credible information on the U.S. transportation system, the movement of people and goods, and the consequences of transportation.

VISION

BTS is the preeminent source of statistics on multimodal freight transportation, transportation economics, and commercial aviation, and provides a portal to understanding the transportation system and the system’s consequences through the Bureau's products and its National Transportation Library (NTL).

The National Transportation Library is the permanent, publicly accessible home for research publications from throughout the transportation community; the gateway to all DOT data; the statistical help line for the Congress, researchers, and the public; and the keeper of the profession’s institutional memory.

BTS assures the credibility of its products and services through rigorous analysis, transparent estimation methods, transparent data quality, and independent control of its methods and findings. BTS promotes innovative methods of data collection, analysis, visualization, and dissemination through an eclectic mix of data science, statistical methods, economics, geography, library science, and transportation knowledge.

WHY BTS MATTERS

Transportation is important for how it serves and affects individuals, businesses, and the nation. Statistics, maps, and their interpretation inform public and private decisions about transportation. BTS supports these decisions as a credible source of objective information.

SCOPE AND EMPHASES

BTS collects, compiles, analyzes, and makes available information on all modes of transportation and all aspects of transportation’s transformational role in the world.

• BTS is the principal source of statistics on multimodal freight transportation—including commodity movements by mode and geography, throughput and capacity of ports, and performance of surface freight transportation—that guide strategic investments in infrastructure and inform responses to major supply chain disruptions.

• BTS estimates the contribution of transportation to the economy and the amount of public and private investment in transportation infrastructure and services.
   
• BTS collects and publishes data on the use, finance, and on-time performance of individual air carriers; these data inform the commercial aviation industry, airport operators, and air travelers.
   
• BTS creates maps that explain to decisionmakers and the public the value and consequences of transportation.
   
• The thousands of digital materials available in the National Transportation Library support transportation literacy, document innovations, and maintain the institutional memory of the transportation community.
   
• As one of the principal federal statistical agencies, BTS has special data protection and data sharing authorities.

BTS data are valuable in a world full of data from private sources because:

• BTS statistics are too hard or costly for private sector to collect or estimate.
• BTS methods are transparent and understandable; users don’t have to put blind trust in a “black box.”
• BTS products are objective and not biased by profit motives or advocacy of policies.

BTS is guided by the Secretary’s strategic objectives, by the Bureau’s authorizing legislation in Chapter 63 of Title 49, United States Code, by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Public Law No: 115-435, Jan. 14, 2019), also known as the Evidence Act. BTS effectiveness is enabled by Fundamental Responsibilities of Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units (5 CFR Part 1321) and the Statistical Policy Directives of the Office of Management and Budget.

STAFF 

BTS staff approximately 50 career employees who bring an eclectic mix of interdisciplinary skills to the creation of innovative statistical products.

FINANCIAL RESOURCES

BTS has three sources of funding to support its activities:

• Contract authority: BTS activities specified in Chapter 63 of Title 49, U.S. Code, are funded as an allocation from the Highway Trust Fund. This funding sources provides essential stability for long-term data collections and accommodates data programs that are implemented over a multi-year cycle.  The allocation is $27 million in FY 2026.
• Budget authority: Congress may support one-time data development activities or special studies through the annual appropriations process.  
• Interagency agreements with external customers: the airline statistics program is funded through an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration; the Confidential Close Calls Reporting Program is funded through agreements with the DOT's Maritime Administration, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement of the U.S. Department of the Interior. BTS also receives funds from other agencies to support specific freight data products. Current reimbursable agreements total approximately $10 million per year.

The Bureau's allocation account must be renewed with reauthorization at the end of FY 2026. Annual appropriations are requested through the President’s budget. The reimbursable agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration is renewed annually. Agreements with other customers are extended at the discretion of the customers.

PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS

BTS is part of four communities, each with its own set of partners and stakeholders:

• The transportation community: BTS serves DOT as a source of statistical expertise and of objective information on transportation.
• Federal statistical agencies: BTS represents the transportation community on the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, chaired by the Office of Management and Budget, and collaborates with individual federal statistical agencies such as the Census Bureau to meet the information needs of the transportation community.
• Federal geographic data and mapping community: BTS is the principal integrator of geographic data related to transportation and works with a variety of organizations that develop and compile geo-spatial data to establish a high-quality, comprehensive, detailed electronic map of transportation that can be used throughout government and industry.
• The knowledge management community: BTS works through its NTL with the Library of Congress, state DOT libraries, universities, and others to assure that transportation data, results of research relevant to transportation, and institutional memory are maintained and shared in forms that are readily accessible to the transportation community.

BUILDING ON THE PAST AND LOOKING AHEAD

As BTS faces a period of governmentwide change, the Bureau must continue to meet its mandates and evolve from its strong base of past accomplishments:

• BTS is supplementing its nationwide statistics with more frequent, geographically detailed, and timely indicators of system use and performance.
• Surveys are becoming the last resort rather than the first option for obtaining data.
• BTS is turning to AI-processed imagery for geospatial data.
• For access to its information, BTS is developing AI-assisted queries and tabulations to enhance or replace pre-defined tabulation tools and simple keyword- and tag-based queries.

In the years ahead, BTS will be successful if it continues to be recognized for delivering robust, credible, widely used products covering the subjects identified in its mandates and in departmental goals. BTS products will be successful if they continue to be recognized as inciteful, definitive, and objective. BTS will continue to be a great place to work if it tackles significant intellectual challenges with creative and effective responses. Ultimately, BTS is a success when the Bureau’s products are useful and used throughout the nation.

APPENDIX

BTS INFORMATION FLOW

ORGANIZATION CHART

MANDATES

Congress designates the BTS Director “who shall be appointed in the competitive service by the Secretary" of Transportation, as "the senior advisor to the Secretary on data and statistics” and declares that “the Director shall not be required to obtain the approval of any other officer or employee of  the Department [of Transportation] with respect to the collection or analysis of any information; or prior to publication, to obtain the approval of any other officer or employee of the United States Government with respect to the substance of any statistical technical reports or press releases lawfully prepared by the Director.” (49 USC § 6302)

Congress requires BTS to create:

• Comprehensive information on transportation performance and impacts in 12 subject areas (49 USC § 6302);
• The Intermodal Transportation Database, which includes “information on the volumes and patterns of movement of goods, including local, interregional, and international movement, by all modes of transportation and intermodal combinations, and by relevant classification; information on the volumes and patterns of movement of people, including local, interregional, and international movements, by all modes of transportation (including bicycle and pedestrian modes) and intermodal combinations, and by relevant classification; information on the location and connectivity of transportation facilities and services; and a national accounting of expenditures and capital stocks on each mode of transportation and intermodal combination.” (49 USC § 6303);
• The National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) “comprised of geospatial databases that depict transportation networks; flows of people, goods, vehicles, and craft over the networks; and social, economic, and environmental conditions that affect or are affected by the networks.” (49 USC § 6309);
• The National Ferry Database, which contains “current information regarding ferry systems, including information regarding routes, vessels, passengers and vehicles carried, funding sources, including any Federal, State, and local government funding sources, and such other information as the Secretary considers useful.” (23 USC § 129 note)
• Information on railroad tank cars that carry flammable material. (49 USC § 20155);
• An annual report on the capacity and throughput of the largest ports by tonnage, container traffic, and dry bulk. (49 USC § 6314);
• Information on maritime container and chassis dwell times (under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, Pub. L. 117-146, June 16, 2022); and 
• The Transportation Statistics Annual Report (49 USC § 6312).

Congress requires BTS to operate the National Transportation Library (NTL) to “acquire, preserve, and manage transportation information and information products and services for use by the Department, other Federal agencies, and the general public; provide reference and research assistance; serve as a central depository for research results and technical publications of the Department; provide a central clearinghouse for transportation data and information of the Federal Government; serve as coordinator and policy lead for transportation information access; provide transportation information and information products… [and] coordinate efforts … with the goal of developing a comprehensive transportation information and knowledge network…” (49 USC § 6304)

Congress recognizes the Secretarial delegation to BTS of requirements to “collect and disseminate information on civil aeronautics” under 49 USC § 329 by designating funds for the BTS Office of Airline Information in section 103 of the Wendell H. Ford Act for Aviation Investment and Reform for the 21st Century (Pub. L. 106-181, April 5, 2000).

Congress requires BTS to:

• “establish on behalf of the Secretary a program to effectively integrate safety data across modes; and to address gaps in existing safety data programs of the Department.” (49 USC § 6302)
• “continually improve surveys and data collection methods of the Department to improve the accuracy and utility of transportation statistics; encourage the standardization of data, data collection methods, and data management and storage technologies… issue guidelines for the collection of information by the Department of Transportation … and carry out modeling, economic assessment, and program assessment activities to ensure that such information is accurate, reliable, relevant, and in a form that permits systematic analysis.” (49 USC § 6302)
• “improve the coordination of information collection efforts with other Federal agencies.” (49 USC § 6302), and 
• "build and disseminate the transportation layer of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure"  (49 USC § 6302)

As a designated principal federal statistical agency, BTS is required by the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Pub. L. 115-435, Jan. 14, 2019) to “produce and disseminate relevant and timely statistical information; conduct credible and accurate statistical activities; conduct objective statistical activities; and protect the trust of information providers by ensuring the confidentiality and exclusive statistical use of their responses.” (44 USC § 3563) These requirements are articulated in greater detail in Fundamental Responsibilities of Recognized Statistical Agencies and Units (5 CFR Part 1321) and the Statistical Policy Directives of the Office of Management and Budget.

The BTS Director serves as the Department’s Statistical Official “to advise [the Department] on statistical policy, techniques, and procedures” (5 USC § 314).