Glossary

Assets

Entities owned by a unit or units from which the owners derive economic benefits by holding or using them.

Capital stock

Assets that are durable and expected to remain in service for at least one year. Examples of transportation capital stock include bridges, stations, highways, streets, and ports; and equipment such as automobiles, aircraft, and ships.

Chaining (chained dollars)

Method of inflation adjustment that allows for comparing dollar value changes between years.

Consumers

Housheolds.

Consumption goods

Assets that are expected to remain in service for less than a year.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Measure of changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.

Cost of transportation

Monetary value of resources used to produce transportation services, including labor, equipment, fuel, and infrastructure.

Economic slowdown (deceleration)

Period when growth slows below normal rates.

Fixed assets

Produced assets used to produce other goods or services, including other fixed assets, for more than one year. Fixed transportation assets include transportation structures, motor vehicles, and equipment such as aircraft, ships, and boats.

Fixed investment

Investment in assets that take more than a year to consume.

For-hire transportation

Transportation operated on behalf of or by a company that provides services to external customers for a fee. For-hire transportation differs from private transportation services in which a firm transports its own freight and does not offer its transportation services to other shippers.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services produced by labor and property in the United States. As long as the labor and property are located in the United States, the suppliers may be United States or foreign residents.

Household transportation

Transportation provided by households for their own use using a personal vehicle.

In-house transportation

Transportation services provided within a firm whose main business is not transportation, such as a grocery store using its own truck fleet to move goods from warehouses to retail outlets.

Intercity

Existing or traveling between cities.

Intracity

Existing or traveling within the same city.

Inventories-to-sales ratio

The value of goods on shelves and warehouses divided by monthly sales. For example, a ratio of 2.5 would show that a business has enough goods to cover sales for 2.5 months

Multifactor productivity

Measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced (output) to the amount of combined inputs used to produce those goods and services. Inputs can include labor, capital, energy, materials, and purchased services.

Negative externality

Negative effects on others that occur when people use transportation. Examples include traffic congestion and air pollution.

Nominal dollars

Dollar amount that reflects current prices and quantities current at the time the measure was taken, and does not take inflation into account.

Own-source revenue

Taxes and charges levied on transportation-related activities and used specifically for transportation.

Passenger mile

One passenger transported one mile. For example, one vehicle traveling 3 miles carrying 5 passengers generates 15 passenger-miles.

Price of transportation-related goods and services

Reflects the cost of resources used to produce the transportation-related good or service plus mark-up and tax.

Producers of transportation services

Firms that carry out transportation operations to move people and goods. May not necessarily be the providers.

Producer Price Index (PPI)

Measure of the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output.

Productivity

Measure of economic performance that equals the ratio of total output to the inputs used in the production process. Inputs may include capital, labor, energy, materials, and services.

Providers of transportation services

Firms that carry out transportation operations to move people and goods or arrange transportation services to move people and goods (e.g., freight forwarders and freight brokers).

Public-private partnerhsip (PPP)

Contractual agreement formed between public and private sector partners.

Purchasers

Users, who may be either households—known as consumers—or businesses.

Real dollars

Dollar amount adjusted for changes in prices over time due to inflation.

Seasonal adjustment

Statistical method for estimating and removing seasonal movement from a time series.

Supporting revenue

Funds collected from non-transportation-related activities but dedicated to support transportation programs.

Ton-mile

Unit of measure equal to movement of 1 ton over 1 mile.

Transportation infrastructure

Structures that support a transportation system, including highways and streets, bridges, railroads, and other transportation structures. It does not include transportation equipment like motor vehicles, aircraft, and ships.

Transportation investment

Spending on transportation assets that take more than a year to consume.

Transportation-related final demand

Measure of the expenditures by households, private firms, and the government on final goods and services related to transportation. It includes personal consumption expenditures, private investment, government purchases, and net exports related to transportation goods and services.

Transportation Services Index (TSI)

Monthly measure showing the relative change in the volume of services over time performed by the for-hire transportation sector. The TSI covers the activities of for-hire freight carriers, for-hire passenger carriers, and a combination of the two.

Unlinked trips

Number of passengers boarding public transportation vehicles. Passengers are counted each time they board vehicles, no matter how many vehicles they use to travel from their origin to their destination.

Users of transportation services

Purchasers of transportation. May be households (consumers) or businesses.

Value added

Contribution of industry to GDP, measured by total output (industry revenue) less the costs of inputs.

Acronyms and Initialisms