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1
Introduction
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) in the U.S. Department of
Transportation (USDOT) is the newest agency in the federal statistical system.
BTS was authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
(ISTEA) of 1991 and began operations in late 1992. (A small staff group was
assigned to work on setting up BTS in October 1992; the management order for
BTS to begin operations was signed by the secretary in December 1992.) BTS's
first director, T.R. Lakshmanan, was nominated a little more than a year later, in
January 1994, and confirmed by the Senate in June 1994.
BTS joins a group of agencies including the Bureau of the Census, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Energy Information Administration, the National
Center for Education Statistics, and others each of which has a mission to pro-
vide data and statistics in a broad subject area for public- and private-sector deci-
sion making, program planning and evaluation, research, and general public un-
derstanding. Although USDOT has from the beginning included statistical units
with specialized responsibilities for data programs such as the Safety Data Ser-
vices Division in the Federal Aviation Administration, the Office of Highway
Information Management in the Federal Highway Administration, the Office of
Statistical and Economic Analysis in the Maritime Administration, and the Na-
tional Center for Statistics and Analysis in the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration BTS is the first statistical agency established in the department
with a broad mandate.
The same ISTEA legislation that authorized BTS (see Appendix A) also
called for a study of USDOT data collection procedures and capabilities by the
National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. The scope of the
study was developed in the course of discussions with the Congress and USDOT,
9
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10 BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS: PRIORITIES FOR THE FUTURE
and in fall 1995 the Committee on National Statistics and the Transportation
Research Board of the National Research Council established the Panel on Statis-
tical Programs and Practices of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The panel was charged to review the statistical programs of BTS and its
practices to improve the quality and usefulness of transportation data throughout
USDOT and the federal statistical system. It was asked to examine the functions
that BTS does or could perform (e.g., statistical policy, data collection, analysis,
dissemination) and its resources and capabilities to carry out those functions. The
panel was asked to focus particularly on two areas: (1) the statistical policy
functions of the agency vis-a-vis the department such as coordinating data col-
lection programs, providing standards for data collection and reporting, and pro-
viding guidance on confidentiality issues, documentation, and quality control and
(2) the agency's relationships to other USDOT agencies, to other federal statisti-
cal agencies, and to other transportation data providers and users, such as state
and metropolitan agencies.
In summary, the panel was asked to review BTS's functions, capabilities,
resources, and relationships with other agencies. In developing and presenting its
findings and recommendations, the panel illustrates its points with examples of
transportation data needs, data collection programs, time-series indicators, and
data quality assessments. However, the panel was neither charged nor consti-
tuted to carry out a review of transportation data programs or data needs as such,
and it has not done so. For a comprehensive assessment of data requirements for
national transportation policy making, see Data for Decisions, a report of a com-
mittee of the Transportation Research Board (National Research Council, 1992a).
This report identified problems and gaps in needed data and indicators, particu-
larly for analyses of policy issues that cut across transportation modes, and called
for the establishment of a transportation data center what ultimately became
BTS.
METHODS OF STUDY
The collection and use of data for public purposes are prescribed by the U.S.
Constitution (which requires a decennial census as the basis for apportionment of
seats in the U.S. House of Representatives) and by many statutes. A number of
federal statistical agencies can trace their history back 100 years or more. How-
ever, there is only a small literature that establishes criteria for effective statistical
agencies (see, e.g., National Research Council, 1992b) or that examines what
factors help them gain stature in their department, develop useful, high-quality,
credible data series, and build strong ties with user communities.
This study of BTS therefore relies heavily on the experience and judgment of
members of the panel who have directed other statistical agencies (or major pro-
grams in such agencies) or who have conducted reviews of the federal statistical
system and individual agencies. (These members have contributed to the litera
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INTRODUCTION
11
lure in this area see, e.g., Bonnen, 1983, 1996; Groves, 1995; Mitroff, Mason,
and Barabba, 1983; Norwood, 1995.) Because a statistical agency must operate
within the context of its department and the set of user needs in its subject area,
the panel relied on its members from the transportation community to assess the
applicability of conclusions developed from observation of other federal statisti-
cal agencies to the situation facing BTS.
The panel obtained information on the operation of statistical programs in
other parts of USDOT, learned about data needs of state departments of transpor-
tation and their assessment of BTS to date, reviewed BTS's budget and staffing
plans and materials provided by BTS on its products and services and their users,
and closely examined selected BTS products and services (including printed pub-
lications, CD-ROM data products, and the contents of BTS's World Wide Web
site) on such dimensions as data quality and ease of use. The panel also looked at
how other statistical agencies have implemented selected aspects of their opera-
tions, such as the development of data quality standards, relationships with state
and local users and providers of data, and confidentiality protection for data pro-
vided by individual respondents. The recommendations developed by the panel
reflect these inputs as they were evaluated by the panel members on the basis of
their experience and judgment.
THE REPORT
The first part of Chapter 2 reviews the history and rationale that led to the
establishment of BTS as a statistical agency with broad responsibilities in the
area of transportation. Such an agency was late in coming to USDOT because of
the historically strong orientation of transportation policy and associated data
collection to particular transportation modes (highway, air, rail, etc.~. However,
the need for a statistical agency that continually works to coordinate and improve
a wide range of transportation data programs to support cross-modal, system-
wide policy planning and other purposes is clear. The second part of Chapter 2
compares BTS' s accomplishments to date with its mandate from ISTEA and with
the criteria for an effective statistical agency found in the literature and developed
from panel members' experience and judgments. The panel' s fundamental con-
clusion from this review is that BTS has made a good beginning in its very brief
span of existence and should be reauthorized by the U.S. Congress.
The bulk of the report looks to the future. Chapter 3 discusses the priority
that BTS should place on activities to improve the quality of transportation data.
To date, while getting under way, BTS has focused primarily on data compilation
and dissemination and less on data improvement. This orientation needs to change
now. The chapter recommends provisions to include in the reauthorization of
BTS to strengthen its role for data improvement in the department, as well as
actions by BTS to develop the full range of statistical and analytical capabilities
in its staff that are necessary to carry out its responsibilities.
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12 BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS: PRIORITIES FOR THE FUTURE
Chapter 4 addresses BTS's program responsibilities to ensure the relevance
of transportation data for policy making and other important user needs. These
responsibilities include developing statistical series that can serve as indicators of
key aspects of the transportation system and playing a stronger role in the coordi-
nation of transportation data collection inside and outside USDOT. The chapter
also considers opportunities for BTS to assist key constituencies, including state
transportation departments and metropolitan planning organizations, to make
more effective use of BTS and other transportation data.
Finally, Chapter 5 considers institutional characteristics that are important
for BTS to have. It recommends provisions that should be explicitly continued or
added in the reauthorization of BTS to ensure that it continues as a statistical
agency that is independent of policy or political control. To be successful over
the long term, BTS must be able to function at the highest level of professional
standards, objectivity, and credibility.
The appendices provide important background information or illustrate points
made in the text through case studies. They include: references to BTS in the
1991 ISTEA (Appendix A); information about other statistical agencies inside
and outside USDOT (Appendix B); a comparison of BTS with the principles and
practices for a federal statistical agency expressed in a report of the Committee on
National Statistics (National Research Council, 1992b) (Appendix C); a case
study of improving airline safety statistics in BTS's annual statistical compen-
dium, National Transportation Statistics (Appendix D); descriptions of selected
CD-ROM products on the BTS World Wide Web site (Appendix E); and a case
study of integrating data and filling data gaps for household travel surveys (Ap-
pendix F). The final appendix contains biographical sketches of panel members
and staff (Appendix G).
A NOTE ON REAUTHORIZATION LEGISLATION
The Clinton administration has introduced a bill to reauthorize the 1991
ISTEA: the National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act of 1997
(NEXTEA). The NEXTEA bill would reauthorize BTS for another 6 years, con-
tinue many of the provisions about BTS from the earlier legislation, and amend
other provisions. We have developed recommendations about BTS indepen-
dently, several of which call for changes to BTS's legislative authority. The
rationale for these (and other) recommendations is developed in the body of the
report. We hope that the Congress will give careful consideration to our recom-
mendations when developing reauthorization legislation for BTS.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
statistical agencies
