Table 1 - Key Elements of the U.S. Transportation System 2005 (unless otherwise noted)

Air

Extent
5,233 public use airports (2006)
14,757 private use airports (2006)

Aircraft and use
8,024 certificated air carrier aircraft (2007), 6.6 billion airplane-miles traveled (2007), 592.4 billion
passenger-miles traveled; 11.2 billion revenue ton-miles of freight (domestic, scheduled)

Passenger and freight companies
17 major air carriers, 85 companies total, 501 thousand employees

Highways

Extent
2,601,490 miles of paved roads; 8,371,704 lane miles of paved roads
1,408,757 miles of unpaved roads
599,893 highway bridges (2007)

Personal vehicles and light trucks
136,568,083 passenger cars; 1,689,965 million vehicle-miles traveled; 2,670,145 million person-miles traveled
95,336,839 light trucks; 1,059,590 million vehicle-miles traveled; 1,836,988 person-miles traveled
6,227,146 motorcycles; 10,770 million vehicle-miles traveled; 13,677 million person-miles traveled

Heavy truck vehicles and use
8,481,999 heavy trucks; 222,836 million vehicle-miles traveled

Pipeline

Extent
159,512 miles of hazardous liquid pipeline
296,400 miles of natural gas gathering and transmission pipeline
1,117,800 miles of natural gas distribution pipeline

Pipeline operators

292 hazardous liquid pipeline operators
945 natural gas transmission pipeline operators
1,291 natural gas distribution pipeline operators

38 thousand employees

Rail

Extent

95,830-miles operated by Class I railroads
15,388-miles operated by Regional railroads
29,197-miles operated by Local railroads
22,007-miles operated by Amtrak
505 Amtrak stations (2006)

Equipment and use
474,839 thousand Class I freight cars; 1,696,425 million revenue ton-miles of freight
22,779 Class I locomotives
1,186 Amtrak-owned passenger cars in service; 25,076,496 revenue passengers carried
258 Amtrak-owned locomotives in service

Freight rail
7 Class I companies with 162,438 employees
30 Regional companies with 7,322 employees
523 Local companies with 12,047 employees

Passenger rail (Amtrak)
19,234 employees (average)

Transit

Extent
165,854 directional route-miles of bus (2004)
8,076 directional route-miles of commuter rail
1,622 directional route-miles of heavy rail
1,188 directional route-miles of light rail

Vehicles and use
82 thousand buses; 21,825 million passenger-miles; 5,855 million unlinked trips
11 thousand heavy rail cars; 14,418 million passenger-miles; 2,808 million unlinked trips

6 thousand commuter rail cars and locomotives; 9,473 million passenger-miles; 423 million unlinked trips
1.4 thousand light rail cars; 1,700 million passenger-miles; 381 million unlinked trips
42 thousand demand response vehicles

Transit agencies
6,429 transit agencies, 366.8 thousand employees

Water

Extent
26 thousand miles of navigable waterways

Vessels
32,052 nonself propelled vessels; 8,976 self-propelled vessels; 357 oceangoing steam and motor ships in the U.S.-flag domestic fleet

Marine vessel operators
773 marine vessels operators; 61 thousand employees

SOURCES:

Air: Airports- U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Administrator's Factbook (Washington, DC: March 2006). Number of Aircraft-Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Facts and Figures 2005/6 (Washington, DC: 2006), 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: 2006). 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.