TRANSPORTATION - BTS - Bureau of Transportation Statistics

the curtailed service in rural areas. The Federal Transit Act provides support for the intercitybus needs of rural residents.Keys to the FutureToday, regulatory concerns focus on safety in both the truck and bus industry. The newUSDOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was created in 1999 by theMotor Carrier Safety Improvement Act to step up enforcement efforts and target moreresources to ensure safety compliance. New efforts using information technology areunderway to improve safety data collection, its timeliness, and dissemination to enforcementofficials. The FMCSA was the first regulatory agency to move many of its regulatory processto the Internet in order to fully maximize public participation in its processes. This couldhave a major impact and help USDOT ensure safer movement of goods and passengers onour highways as we look to the future. For a discussion of safety trends, see Chapter 3.Today, the motor carrier industry remains an integral part of the increasingly intermodalsupply chains. By 2025, large logistics providers who today manage these supply chainswill have their own truck fleets largely through acquisitions and mergers of existing motorcarriers. These companies will also own air- and sea-based fleets to provide door-to-doorservice across the world. The increase in LTL shipments for just-in-time deliveries willprovide opportunities for using smaller containers, compared to the 20- to 40-foot containersused today.By 2025, the United States, Canada, and Mexico will have seamless cross-border movementstruly creating a seamless North America. This will provide tremendous economic benefits tothe entire region.Freight RailroadsIn 1975, the nation’s railroads—once the cornerstone of the transportation system—werefoundering under ICC regulations that dated back to the 19 th century. They did not haveenough capital to invest in new track and equipment and operated with unsafe anddeteriorating equipment. In 1976, more than 47,000 route-miles—about 25 percent of thenation’s total—were operated at reduced speeds because of dangerous conditions [AAR2000a].The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 partially deregulated railrates and expedited merger processing. That year, government-sponsored Conrail replacedseven bankrupt northeastern rail lines. In 1980, the Staggers Act gave railroads the freedomto set rates, subject to maximum rate regulation, and were allowed to abandon service onunprofitable rail lines.The Staggers Act was the springboard for the U.S. railroad industry. From 1980 to 1998, railfreight rates per ton adjusted for inflation declined an average of 38 percent and Class I(major) freight railroads averaged a 7.5 percent return on their net investment, up from2 percent in the 1970s (figure 2-43). Figure 2-44 shows the Class I railroad performanceindices for labor productivity, revenue ton-miles, revenues, and workforce from 1975 to 1998.Over the past 20 years, the railroad industry experienced many changes:2-421. The industry consolidated, and today, there are eight Class I (major) railroads in theUnited States. Class I railroads now own approximately 100,000 miles of road (routemiles),down from 192,000 in 1975. Figure 2-45 shows the 1998 volume of freight movedalong various route lengths of the rail network, including Class I railroads, regionals,and short-lines.