Table 1. Key Elements of the U.S. Transportation System

2005 (unless otherwise noted)

Air

Extent
5,270 public use airports
14,584 private use airports

Aircraft and use
8,186 certificated air carrier aircraft, 7.71 billion airplane-miles flown, 795.12 billion passenger-miles traveled; 17.78 billion revenue ton-miles of freight

Passenger and freight companies
17 major air carriers, 72 other air carriers, 558 thousand employees

Highways

Extent
2.6 million miles of paved roads; 8.4 million lane miles of paved roads
1.4 million miles of unpaved roads
0.6 million highway bridges

Personal vehicles and light trucks
136.6 million passenger cars; 1.690 trillion vehicle-miles traveled; 2.670 trillion person-miles traveled
95.3 million light trucks; 1.060 trillion vehicle-miles traveled; 1.837 trillion person-miles traveled
6.2 million motorcycles; 10.77 billion vehicle-miles traveled; 13.68 billion person-miles traveled

Heavy truck vehicles and use
8.5 million heavy trucks; 222.29 billion vehicle-miles traveled

Pipeline

Extent
162 thousand miles of hazardous liquid pipeline
328 thousand miles of natural gas gathering and transmission pipeline
1.2 million miles of natural gas distribution pipeline

Pipeline operators
282 hazardous liquid pipeline operators, 903 natural gas transmission pipeline operators, 1,318 natural gas distribution pipeline operators
38 thousand employees

Rail

Extent
95,664 miles owned by Class I railroads
15,388 miles owned by Regional railroads
29,197 miles owned by Local railroads

Equipment and use
1.3 million freight cars in service; 1.696 trillion revenue ton-miles of freight by Class I companies
22,779 Class I locomotives

Freight rail
7 Class I companies with 162 thousand employees
30 Regional companies with 7 thousand employees
523 Local companies with 12 thousand employees

Passenger rail (Amtrak)
22,007 miles operated by Amtrak
527 Amtrak stations
1,186 Amtrak-owned passenger cars in service; 25.1 million revenue passengers carried
258 Amtrak-owned locomotives in service
19 thousand employees

Transit

Extent (2004)
215,252 bus directional route miles at 100 largest transit agencies
6,875 directional route miles of commuter rail
1,596 directional route miles of heavy rail
1,187 directional route miles of light rail

Vehicles (2004) and use
81,033 buses, 21.38 billion passenger-miles, 5.09 billion unlinked trips
10,858 heavy rail cars, 14.35 billion passenger-miles, 2.75 billion unlinked trips
6,288 commuter rail cars and locomotives, 9.71 billion passenger-miles, 413.9 million unlinked trips
1,622 light rail cars, 1.58 billion passenger-miles, 349.9 million unlinked trips
37,078 demand response vehicles

Transit agencies (2004)
6,429 transit agencies, 345 thousand employees

Water (2004)

Extent
26 thousand miles of navigable waterways; 9,133 commercial facilities

Vessels
31,296 nonself propelled vessels, 8,994 self-propelled vessels, 412 oceangoing steam and motor ships in the U.S.-flag domestic fleet

Marine vessel operators
767 marine vessels operators, 56 thousand employees

SOURCES:

Air: Airports—U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Administrator’s Factbook (Washington, DC: March 2005). Number of Aircraft—Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Facts and Figures 2005/6 (Washington, DC: 2005), p. 90. VMT, PMT, ton-miles—U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual December issues). Passenger and Freight Companies—U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 1-2, available at http://www.bts.gov/. Employees— U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Data, National Employment Hours and Earnings, table B-1.
Highways: Public Roads—U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2005 (Washington, DC: 2006), table HM-12. Lane Miles—ibid, table HM-48. Vehicles, VMT, PMT—ibid, table VM-1. Bridges—U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Bridge Technology, National Bridge Inventory Database, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/britab.htm.
Pipeline: Mileage—Oil: U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, Pipeline Statistics, Internet site http://ops.dot.gov/stats.htm. Natural Gas: American Gas Association, Gas Facts, 2005 (Arlington, VA: 2006), table 5-1. Pipeline Operators—U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 1-2, available at http://www.bts.gov/.
Rail: Miles of track, Equipment, Passenger and Freight Companies, Amtrak pmt, Employees— Association of American Railroads, Railroad Facts 2006 (Washington, DC: 2006). Stations— Amtrak, State Fact Sheets, available at http://www.amtrak.com/.
Transit: American Public Transit Association, Public Transportation Fact Book (Washington, DC: various years).
Water: Navigable Waterways—U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 1-1, available at http://www.bts.gov/. Vessels—U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Top 20 Merchant Fleet of the World (Washington, DC: 2004). Operators—U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States, Volume 1, National Summaries (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues). Employees— U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Data, National Employment Hours and Earnings, table B-1.