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Contact DOT 164-09 Kim Riddle 202-366-5128

Friday, October 16, 2009 - BTS Update of National Transportation Statistics Includes Freight Ton-Miles Tabulations through 2007. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today updated a special tabulation of ton-miles of freight by mode for 2007. BTS estimates for air, truck, rail, water, and pipelines were developed using a more comprehensive approach than was used in prior estimates. The special tabulation shows that freight ton-miles decreased 0.5 percent from 2006 to 2007, the first year-to-year decline since 1989. Rail, which has the most ton-miles of any mode, also had the largest decrease, declining 2.0 percent from 2006 to 2007. Truck ton-miles rose 2.0 percent while domestic water transportation decreased 1.5 percent. The new tabulation, with modal numbers through 2007, can be found here: http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_46b.html. BTS also updated the following tables as part of the quarterly National Transportation Statistics update: Annual U.S. Motor Vehicle Production and Factory (Wholesale) Sales (Table 1-15); Retail New Passenger Car Sales (1-16); World Motor Vehicle Production, Selected Countries (1-22); Age and Availability of Amtrak Locomotive and Car Fleets (1-30); U.S. Waterborne Freight (1-50); Highway-Rail Grade-Crossing Safety and Property Damage Data (2-5); U.S. Commuter Air Carrier Safety Data (2-10); U.S. Air Carrier Fatal Accidents by First Phase of Operation (2-11); U.S. General Aviation Safety Data (2-14); Transit Safety Data by Mode (2-32; 2-33a); and Railroad and Grade-Crossing Fatalities by Victim Class (2-35). National Transportation Statistics can be found here: http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/.