State of Transportation Statistics - Box 1

A Strategic Plan for Transportation Statistics: 2000-2005

This plan, released in February 2000, is aimed at improving transportation statistics needed for data and analysis. The plan identifies six key areas or attributes for data with goals for achievement of each.

. Relevance: the data needs of decisionmakers should be anticipated, and the information that is provided should directly address those needs.

. Quality: data for decisionmaking needs to be accurate, reliable, and objective.

. Timeliness: the lag between data compilation and reporting needs to be reduced, so decisionmakers have as near to a real-time view as possible of the transportation system and the factors that affect it.

. Comparability: transportation data should be consistent across modes and time periods to provide a broad perspective for program and resource decisionmaking.

. Completeness: all areas of transportation should be covered.

. Utility: data should be easy to access, understand, and use.