Box 3 - Government Transportation Revenues and Expenditures

The Research and Innovative Technology Administration’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics gathers Government Transportation Financial Statistics (GTFS) data from various sources — including the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other federal government agencies — that provide statistics on transportation-related revenues and expenditures of the federal, state, and local governments for all modes of transportation. GTFS also contains federal budget authority and obligations, and grants to state and local governments. Statistics on federal expenditures, budget authority, and obligations are provided at the agency and program level. All data are reported in current and chained 2000 dollars except for federal budget authority and obligations, which are provided in current dollars only.

• Federal transportation revenues targeted to finance transportation programs increased 3 percent from $33 billion in 1993 to $42 billion in 2003 (in chained 2000 dollars). (Table C-1 in Chapter 2)
• Spending on building, maintaining, operating, and administering the nation’s transportation system by all levels of government totaled $176 billion in 2001 (chained 2000 dollars). (Table C-3)
• In 2003, federal government spending on highways amounted to $32 billion and accounted for 55 percent of total federal government transportation expenditures. (Table C-4)
• Gross government transportation investment, including infrastructure and vehicles, is a measure of public transportation capital expansion. Gross investment has risen steadily over the last decade from $70 billion in 1993 to $86 billion in 2003 (in chained 2000 dollars). Infrastructure accounted for 92 percent of government transportation investment in 2003; 75 percent of infrastructure investment was allocated to highways. (Tables C-5 and C-7)
• Net federal subsidies for passenger transportation have increased from $4,162 million in 1993 to $8,195 million in 2002 (in chained 2000 dollars). (Table C-8)