Statistics
Data alone cannot guarantee good decisions, but informed choices are not possible without good data. Part of the federal responsibility in supporting transportation to meet public goals is the provision of data to support public decision making. Even after the creation of USDOT in the 1960s, the information and data collected by the agencies that make up the department were specific to each modal administration’s regulatory and programmatic responsibilities. These modal data sources precluded taking a systems approach across modes. TRB committees have advised the federal government on the creation of a statistical agency within USDOT, given guidance on key survey programs, and set forth a comprehensive vision of the freight data needed at the federal, state, and regional levels.