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Acknowledgments US Department of Transportation - BTS

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solicitations <strong>of</strong> all federally regulated landing facilities. Since this is a census <strong>of</strong> all U.S. airports, reliability should behigh. Data, however, may be subject to reporting errors typical <strong>of</strong> administrative recordkeeping.TABLE 1-4. Public Road and Street Mileage in the United States by Type <strong>of</strong> SurfaceTABLE 1-5. U.S. Public Road and Street Mileage by Functional SystemTABLE 1-6. Estimated U.S. Roadway Lane-Miles by Functional ClassThe Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) is the source <strong>of</strong> road mileage data and is consideredreliable.(See box 1-1 for detailed information about the HPMS.) The U.S. <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Transportation</strong>, FederalHighway Administration collects and reviews state-reported HPMS data for completeness, consistency, andadherence to specifications. Some inaccuracy may arise from variations across states in their adherence to federalguidelines in the Traffic Monitoring Guide and the Highway Performance Monitoring System Field Manual for theContinuing Analytical and Statistical Database.Beginning with the 1997 issue <strong>of</strong> Highway Statistics, FHWA instituted a new method for creating mileage-basedtables derived from the HPMS. Previously, adjustments to tables developed from sample data were made using areawidemileage information provided by states. These adjustments are now being made using universe totals from theHPMS dataset. In addition, FHWA has discontinued the process <strong>of</strong> spreading rounding and other differences acrosstable cells. Thus, users may note minor differences in table-to-table totals. FHWA considers mileage totals from tableHM-20, "Public Road Length, Miles by Functional System" to be the controlling totals should a single value berequired.Lane-miles are calculated by multiplying the centerline length by the number <strong>of</strong> through lanes. Because the HPMSrequires that the number <strong>of</strong> lanes be reported for all principal arterials, other National Highway System (NHS) roads,and all standard samples, lane length can be computed for the Interstate, other principal arterials, and the NHS on a100-percent basis. For minor arterials, rural major collectors, and urban collectors, lane length is calculated based onstandard sample sections using the reported number <strong>of</strong> through lanes, length <strong>of</strong> section, and an expansion factor.FHWA uses the expanded sample to check that the centerline length <strong>of</strong> a state's functional system matches theuniverse functional system length. If the centerline length and functional system length do not match, FHWA may aska state to make adjustments.Reliability may be diminished for comparisons with pre-1980 data, which were collected via different methods andspecial national studies. For instance, pre-1980 mileage data included some nonpublic roadways (95,000 miles in1979) while post-1980 data reports only public road mileage (roads or streets governed and maintained by a publicauthority and open to public travel).TABLE 1-7. Number <strong>of</strong> Stations Served by Amtrak and Rail Transit, Fiscal YearThese numbers originate from Amtrak's Statistical Appendix to Amtrak's Annual Report and the U.S. <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong><strong>Transportation</strong>, Federal Transit Administration's National Transit Database.Amtrak maintains a computer database with a record <strong>of</strong> every station, locomotive, and car it operates. Those recordsinclude for each vehicle the year built, its service status (operating or not on a daily basis), and location. These datashould be considered very reliable.TABLE 1-8. ADA Accessible Rail Transit Stations by AgencyTABLE 1-9. ADA Lift- or Ramp-Equipped Transit BusesThese data are based on information in the U.S. <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Transportation</strong>, Federal Transit Administration (FTA),National Transit Database (NTD). The legislative requirement for the NTD is found in Title 49 U.S.C. 5335(a). Transitagencies receiving funds through the Urbanized Area Formula Program are generally required to report financial andoperating data, including certain aspects <strong>of</strong> station and vehicle accessibility. Transit operators that do not report toFTA are those that do not receive Urbanized Area Formula Funding, typically private, small, and rural operators. Thedata are generally considered accurate because FTA reviews and validates information submitted by individual transit

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