Chapter 3 - Mobility

The U.S. transportation network provides a high degree of personal mobility and freight activity. In 1999, the transportation network supported 4.8 trillion passenger-miles and about 3.9 trillion ton-miles.The data in this section confirm that local and long-distance travel and freight shipments continue to grow. Several factors influence this growth: greater vehicle availability, reduced travel costs, population increases, an expanding economy, and higher consumer incomes.