2. Objective, Scope and Organization
The main purpose of this report is to provide time series data on transportation investment in fixed
assets, which include infrastructure, rolling stock, and other equipment used in transportation
activities. The data are reported by sector (private, government, and households), type of fixed
assets (infrastructure, rolling stock, and other equipment), and by mode (highways, air, transit,
railroads, water, and pipelines). The investment figures are presented before deducting depreciation
of the existing transportation capital. While it is of paramount importance to compile data on net
investment and/or depreciation of capital in order to determine the net addition to the capital
stock, they are not covered in this report because of data limitations. Data on transportation
investment as a percentage of GDP and a descriptive analysis of the trends in transportation
investment in relation to GDP are also provided. The descriptive analysis is not intended to
determine the causal relationship between transportation investment and GDP, which requires more
rigorous work. Rather, it is a simple analysis that provides a bird's eye view of the statistical
trends of transportation investment in relation to GDP.
All investments made by private business engaged in transportation activities as well as
transportation-related investments made by non-transportation industries (such as agriculture,
manufacturing, mining, construction, etc.) are covered. As far as non-transportation industries
are concerned, only rolling stock is accounted for. The infrastructure components of
transportation investments made by non-transportation industries are not included because
of lack of comprehensive information. Government investment constitutes investments made by
all levels of government, namely, federal, state and local government. Although the existing
classification in the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) defines household purchases of
rolling stock as consumption rather than capital investment, household purchases of rolling stock
are treated as transportation investment in this report. Since household-owned automobiles account
for about 60% of total investment and have a significant impact on the transportation network and
the economy (Chen, Fang, Han, and Sloboda, 2002), it is appropriate, therefore, to classify household
purchases of rolling stock as a component of transportation fixed capital.
The rest of this report is structured in four sections. Section III reviews literature that examines
the linkage between transportation investment and economic performance. A survey of major statistical
undertakings by other government agencies that contain datasets on transportation investment is
provided in Section IV. Both the literature review and the survey of statistical works are aimed
at gaining insights into the type and level of detail of transportation investment data that can
better meet multifaceted research agendas and facilitate policy making. Section V discusses data
sources and procedures used to develop the dataset, and a list of data sources is provided in Appendix
A. The final section presents the data tables and a descriptive analysis of transportation investment
in relation to GDP.
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