Glossary

Air carrier: Certificated provider of scheduled and nonscheduled services.

Chained dollars: A method to measure real changes in dollar values between years that uses chain-type indexes, rather than constant dollars. The method first calculates the real changes between adjacent...

7 Environment

The U.S. transportation system is a major consumer of energy and generates significant environmental impacts.

6 Safety

Transportation safety is the top priority of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Although progress has been made in reducing fatalities, over 30 percent of deaths due to unintentional injury involve transportation.

5 Economy

Transportation is a major sector of the U.S. economy. The transportation system moves people and goods, employs millions of workers, generates revenue, and consumes resources and services provided by other sectors.

4 Performance

The physical capacity of the U.S. transportation system has not kept pace with growth in travel and commerce. The resulting congestion and delays have significant impacts on passengers and freight shippers.

3 Moving Goods

The freight transportation network links natural resources, manufacturing facilities, labor markets, and customers across the nation and with international trading partners.

2 Moving People

The U.S. transportation system makes personal mobility possible. Every day, people use the transportation system to get to and from work, school, and shopping, and for recreation, social and personal purposes.

1 Infrastructure

The U.S. transportation system consists of a vast network of roads, bridges, airports, railroads, transit systems, ports, waterways, and pipelines.  The American people rely on this interconnected system to get to work, travel, conduct business, and ship goods. The transportation...

Table 7-7: Air Pollution in the 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas: 2003–2010

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(Number of days with AQI values greater than 100)

Table 7-6: Alternative Fuel Stations by Fuel Type: 2011

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