NOTE: The final issue of this report was December 2002. These reports are provided
as a historical reference. A minimal number of indicators are being updated in the
White House Economic Statistics Briefing Room.
Due to quality control requirements, transportation indicators
in italic were not updated this month and not included in this month's
PDF file. However, the transportation indicator is still available in
this month's HTML, Excel and CSV files.
| Introduction |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
|
|
Commercial Aviation
The year 2002 has been one of hardship for the commercial aviation
industry due to the combined effects of the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks and on-going weakness in the economy. The negative impact
is most evident in the traffic/capacity and financial indicators
for the airlines, with both revenue passenger miles and real net
income near historically low values. There have however been some
positive indicators: traffic relative to year-ago values has partially
rebounded, freight carrier financials have shown improvement, and
passengers experienced more on-time flights. |
| While passenger aviation continues
to rebound from the lows reached in September 2001, domestic passenger
miles on large U.S air carriers in June 2002 were still 6 percent
below levels of June 2001. International passenger miles on U.S.
air carriers were down 12 percent in June 2002 compared to June
2001. Spare capacity (measured in ton-miles) for domestic aviation
increased nearly 8 percent in June 2002 compared to June of last
year, while available ton-miles (I.e., capacity) increased 5 percent. |
|
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(81KB) |
CSV
(10KB) |
| |
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(68KB) |
CSV
(7KB) |
| |
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(80KB) |
CSV
(9KB) |
| |
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(68KB) |
CSV
(7KB) |
| Domestic flight stage length for large U.S.
air carriers reached 709 miles in June 2002, breaking the 700 mile
level for the first time in the 10 years tracked by this report. |
|
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(56KB) |
CSV
(5KB) |
| Air carrier’s real return on assets
was –5 percent for the four quarters ending in September 2002,
the lowest annual yield in the 10 years tracked by this report. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(35KB) |
CSV
(1KB) |
| Eighty-eight percent of scheduled flights
by major U.S. passenger carriers arrived on-time in September 2002
for the best on-time arrival rate in the 15 years of available data.
One month later, large U.S. passenger carriers scheduled operations
increased 2 percent compared to October 2001, the first 12-month
increase since August 2001. |
|
HTML
(7KB) |
Excel
(98KB) |
CSV
(13KB) |
| The producer price of scheduled air freight
transportation increased nearly 9 percent in September 2002 compared
to September 2001— reaching the second highest level in the
10 years tracked by this report. In October, the producer price
of scheduled air freight transportation continued to increase—
nearly 12 percent compared to October 2001. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(85KB) |
CSV
(6KB) |
| Third-quarter air carrier real passenger
revenue continued a sixth consecutive quarter of declines over the
same quarter in the previous year, while real freight revenue increased
for the second consecutive quarter. Between third-quarter 2001 and
third-quarter 2002, real passenger revenue was down 7 percent while
real freight revenue was up 8 percent. |
|
HTML
(5KB) |
Excel
(47KB) |
CSV
(3KB) |
| The cost of air travel to consumers was 2
percent lower in October 2002 compared to the previous month. |
|
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(176KB) |
CSV
(12KB) |
| Employment in for-hire air transportation
decreased 0.35 percent in November 2002 compared to October—the
lowest level since December 1997. |
|
HTML
(7KB) |
Excel
(393KB) |
CSV
(37KB) |
| Jet fuel prices for October 2002 reached
80 cents per gallon, the highest level since February 2001. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(48KB) |
CSV
(5KB) |
| Other Private
Industry |
|
|
|
|
| Business investment in transportation equipment
dropped 12 percent in the third quarter of 2002 compared to the
third quarter of 2001— the lowest level in five years. |
|
HTML
(5KB) |
Excel
(34KB) |
CSV
(1KB) |
| The 2 percent decline in producer prices
for transportation equipment in the 12 months ending in September
2002 was the largest decline in the 10 years tracked by this report.
However, producer prices for transportation equipment were unchanged
in October 2002 compared to October 2001. |
|
HTML
(5KB) |
Excel
(126KB) |
CSV
(6KB) |
| The October 2002 high for railroad passenger
transportation producer prices was first reached in May and has
remained at the May level for six consecutive months. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(88KB) |
CSV
(4KB) |
| The 4 percent decline in producer prices
for highway and street construction for the 12 months ending February
2002 was the largest decline in the 10 years tracked by this report
and follows a similar decline for January 2002. |
|
HTML
(3KB) |
Excel
(44KB) |
CSV
(4KB) |
| Business inventory to sales ratio decreased
almost one percent in July 2002 compared to the previous month—reaching
the lowest level in the 10 years tracked by this report. This ratio
remained flat in August, and increased almost one percent in September. |
|
HTML
(3KB) |
Excel
(42KB) |
CSV
(2KB) |
| Personal Spending
on Transportation |
|
|
|
|
| Consumers spent 10 percent more on motor
vehicles and parts in the third quarter of 2002 compared to the
previous quarter. |
|
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(47KB) |
CSV
(3KB) |
| The monthly increase for September 2002 in
consumer prices for new cars and trucks of 0.5 percent was the second
highest in the 10 years tracked by this report. The impact on consumers
of the price increase for new vehicles was mitigated by a decline
of 0.8 percent in prices for used cars and trucks and flat prices
for motor vehicle maintenance and repair. One month later, the third
largest monthly decline in prices for used cars and trucks occurred
as consumers spent nearly 2 percent less on used cars and trucks
than in October 2001. |
|
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(176KB) |
CSV
(12KB) |
| Since the beginning of 2002, light trucks
have outsold cars every month except for May. Retail sales of cars
were down 5 percent, light trucks were down 12 percent, and medium/heavy
trucks up 22 percent in November 2002 compared to November 2001. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(68KB) |
CSV
(10KB) |
| By the beginning of December, retail gasoline
prices (average for all grades) were 1.40 dollars per gallon—a
30-cent increase over December 2001 prices. |
|
HTML
(5KB) |
Excel
(98KB) |
CSV
(13KB) |
| Public Spending
on Transportation |
|
|
|
|
| Total federal expenditures on
highway and street construction declined 11 percent in September
2002 (seasonally adjusted). However, public expenditures on land
passenger transportation terminals jumped 33 percent in September
(seasonally adjusted)— the highest level in the 9 years tracked
by this report. |
|
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(84KB) |
CSV
(9KB) |
| |
HTML
(5KB) |
Excel
(93KB) |
CSV
(13KB) |
| Public expenditures on water transportation
decreased almost 23 percent in October 2002 compared to October
2001—the lowest level since December 2000. |
|
HTML
(6KB) |
Excel
(73KB) |
CSV
(6KB) |
| Security |
|
|
|
|
| Net petroleum imports increased 2 percent
in October 2002 compared to October 2001, while petroleum products
supplied (a proxy for consumption) decreased 2 percent over the
same period. Domestic production was also down 4 percent during
the same time period. |
|
HTML
(5KB) |
Excel
(126KB) |
CSV
(15KB) |
| Mobility |
|
|
|
|
| Vehicle miles of travel increased 2 percent
in July 2002 compared to July of last year— the highest level
in the last 10 years tracked by this report. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(51KB) |
CSV
(8KB) |
| Amtrak ridership reached its highest level
in July 2002 since August of last year with nearly 2.1 million passengers.
However, ridership was still down 2 percent compared to July 2001. |
|
HTML
(3KB) |
Excel
(21KB) |
CSV
(1KB) |
| Human and Natural
Environment |
|
|
|
|
| Transportation energy consumption dropped
4 percent in February 2002 compared to the same month last year—
the lowest level since February 1999. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(45KB) |
CSV
(4KB) |
| Transportation energy use per dollar of GDP
declined nearly 3 percent in the first quarter of 2002 compared
to the first quarter of 2001— reaching the lowest level since
the first quarter of 2000. |
|
HTML
(4KB) |
Excel
(35KB) |
CSV
(3KB) |
Sampling, as well as non-sampling, errors may exist in the reported data.
