BTS Issues State Transportation Profiles

From a 168,000 mile public road system — the first fact on the first page — to 777,000 meters of highway noise barriers on the last page of data, the California Transportation Profile provides a comprehensive and easily accessible collection of California state transportation information.

The volume, released in May, is the first in one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics in its 10-year history. When completed, the series will contain 51 volumes covering the states and the District of Columbia. The series of state transportation profiles will take more than a year to complete.

“The profiles are an easy-to-use collection of a wide range of information on transportation in individual states,” Ashish Sen, BTS Director, said. “They typify BTS’ role of making transportation data readily available to decision-makers, planners, and the entire transportation community.”

The transportation profiles provide transportation information from BTS, other federal government agencies, and other national sources to offer a picture of the state’s infrastructure, safety, freight movement and passenger travel, vehicles, economy and finance, and energy and environment.

Following the 100 plus page California volume, BTS released profiles of Nebraska, Alaska, Minnesota, and Vermont. Scheduled for the near future are volumes on Texas, Kentucky, Arizona, New Hampshire, Maryland, Wisconsin and South Carolina. The release schedule was designed to present states from different regions and with varying characteristics. For example, in comparison to the California numbers, the second volume contained the information that Alaska has 12,800 miles of public roads and 9,300 meters of highway noise barriers.