Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 131
APPENDIX
E
Descriptions of CD-ROM Products
on the BTS Web Site
The BTS World Wide Web site, in addition to making some data sets directly
accessible, describes other data sets that are available on CD-ROM. To facilitate
users' ability to locate high-quality, relevant data, it is important that the brief
descriptions of CD-ROM products follow a standardized format that is as infor-
mative as possible. However, the descriptions that BTS provides for its CD-
ROM products in the "Products" section of its web site vary in their content,
usefulness, and, in some instances, compatibility with information for the same
product from other sections of the web site.
This appendix reproduces descriptions of selected BTS CD-ROM products
from the BTS web site, pointing out examples of better and worse practice. A
useful format may be one that organizes the specific items of information that are
provided for each entry in the BTS Directory of Transportation Data Sources
(see Chapter 3) under the general headings that are used in the web site descrip-
tions of many of the data sets: What is it? What's in it? How can I use it? and
Product format. Also, it is important to provide a contact name for additional
information.
COMMENTARY ON CD-ROM DESCRIPTIONS
1990 Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP)-
Statewide Element
The description of the CTPP Statewide Element CD-ROM has information
under the following headings: What is it? What's in it? How can I use it? and
Product format (see Figure E-1~. The information provided on content is limited
131
OCR for page 132
132
; ~ i ~ i.:
. ~- - .,.,.,. - .,- -.,.,- - ,.,. - - - - .,.,. - - ,.,. -.,.,.,. -
:~:
it. ; .. . . , I: ,, ., ,. ,. ,. . ; ; ; ; ; ;. ; ;: .;:
. ~AA ~
..:
;
..; . . .. .; .. .. .; . . ; ; ;; ; . ; . ... .. . .; ; .; ; ; .; ; :; . . .. . .; . ; .. :.
What is it?
APPENDIX E
The 1990 Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP)CD-ROM is a set of special
tabulations of 1990 census data tailored to meet the data needs of transportation plan-
ners. Tabulations also contain a wealth of general interest information on the work force
by place of work. The 1990 CTPP is a continuation of the program established for the
1970 census and continued for the 1980 census in the same general format.
What's in it?
.
Statewide tabulations on the following:
· Part A...characteristics of persons, workers, and housing units by county, place of
2,500 or more (city, town, village, etc.), and county subdivision (where requested) of
residence.
Part B...characteristics of workers by county, place of 2,500 or more, and county
subdivision (where requested) of work.
· Part C...characteristics of workers in journey-to-work flows between counties, places
of 2,500 or more, and county subdivision (where requested) of residence and coun-
ties and places of 2,500 or more of work.
How can I use it?
.
· CTPP may be accessed using TransVU software which is provided separately with
the CD-ROM. TransVU is a Windows application that provides both map and tabu-
lar views of CTPP data and simplifies extraction of C TPP tables into dBase, Lotus,
and comma delimited or fixed format ascii text files. Users can select tables by
summary level, by topic, by universe, or geographic location.
Raw data may also be accessed directly by users with their own data manipulation
software.
PRODUCT FORMAT: 1990 Census Transportation Planning Package is available on a set
of 12 CD-ROMs for the entire United States from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Customers are asked to specify data for the states they require. TransVU software is pro-
vided on diskette with the CTPP CD-ROM.
[Alphabetical Listing] [Subject Listing] [Media Listing] [Mode Listing]
[BTS Products Page] [BTS Services] [Order Form]
Feedback? Questions? commentsff~bts.gov
FIGURE E-1 Description of the CTPP Statewide Element CD-ROM.
OCR for page 133
CD-ROM PRODUCTS
133
(e.g., "characteristics of persons, workers, and housing units"~. There is no men-
tion that the data are from a sample (the census long form), nor that the data on
place of work involve geocoding address information provided by census respon-
dents that may have significant levels of error. No contact name for additional
information is provided.
1990 Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) Urban
The description of the CTPP Urban Element CD-ROM (not shown) fol-
lows the same format as the description of the companion Statewide CD-ROM
(see Figure E-1. It is fairly informative with regard to content. However, there
is no mention that the data are from a sample, nor of the average population size
of the areas traffic zones and census tracts for which data are provided on this
CD-ROM. There is no contact name for additional information.
Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), 1993
The description of the CFS that was on the BTS web site until late March
1997 followed the same format as the entries in the Directory of Transportation
Data Sources (see Chapter 3~. It had the following headings: Mode; Abstract
(including an overview of the survey design and content); Source of data; At-
tributes (geographic coverage, time span of data, first developed, update fre-
quency, number of records, file size, file format, media); Significant features and/
or limitations; Corresponding printed source; Sponsoring organization; Perform-
ing organization; Availability; Contact for additional information. The descrip-
tion was quite complete, although the addition of information on response rates
and publications would have made it more useful. The description was subse-
quently revised to use the following headings: What is it? What's in it? How can
I use it? and Product Format. In the revision (not shown), some useful informa-
tion was not retained, although other useful information was added.
Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS), 1983 and 1990
The description of the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey has infor-
mation under the headings: What is it? What's in it? How can I use it? and
Product format (see Figure E-2. The description is reasonably informative about
content. However, it does not provide information about sample size or whether
there is any identification of subnational geographic areas, such as regions. (The
NPTS sample size of about 22,000 households is too small to provide much geo-
graphic detail.) No contact name for additional information is provided.
OCR for page 134
134
~. ~;;
. ~. ~. . . . . . ; .. ; ; ; ; ;; ;; :;
, s - , s ~- · · s · ~s · ~
What Is It?
APPENDIX E
The Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey(NPTS) compiles national data on the
nature and characteristics of personal travel by all modes of transportation. Information
from a national household sample was collected about all trips taken during a desig-
nated 24-hour period (travel day). Additional details were collected for trips of 75 miles
or further (one-way) that were taken during the preceding 14-day period (travel period)
including the 24-hour travel day. NPTS data, which are collected by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, are available for 1983 and
1990 on this product.
What's in it?
.
Demographic characteristics of persons and households include such topics as re-
lationship of household members, educational levels through graduate or profes-
sional school, income categories, etc.;
Household vehicle availability and use;
Annual miles per licensed driver;
Household travel rates;
Day-of-week and time-of-day travel;
Vehicle occupancy; and
~ Home-to-work trips.
How can I use it?
.
· To track, over time, both personal travel and the characteristics related to that travel
for the entire nation.
The Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey CD-ROM contains the Statistical
Export and Tabulation System (SETS) software program, developed by the Na-
tional Center for Health Statistics, that allows use rs to access documentation and
data stored on disks or on a CD-ROM.
· SETS allows users to browse through and print documentation and data; build a
table and query data; and, export documentation and data in dBase compatible
(.DBF) format or SAS, SPSS, EPI Info, and BMDP formats.
PRODUCT FORMAT: Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS)is available on
CD-ROM from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
[Alphabetical Listing] [Subject Listing] [Media Listing] [Mode Listing]
[BTS Products Page] [BTS Services] [Order Form]
Feedback? Questions.9 commentsff~bts.gov
FIGURE E-2 Description of the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey 1983 and
1990.
OCR for page 135
CD-ROM PRODUCTS
Traffic Safety Data CD-ROM
135
The description of the Traffic Safety CD-ROM, which contains data from
the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) and General Estimates System
(GES) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is only
a brief paragraph (see Figure E-3. It informs the user that the CD-ROM includes
an analytic reference guide that describes the comparability of the data over the
evolution of the NHTSA programs. (However, none of the available documenta-
tion for the traffic safety data describes the collection methodology in detail or pos-
sible sources of errors.) No contact name for additional information is provided.
Previously, a somewhat longer description of the Traffic Safety Data CD-
ROM was available that provided information under the following headings:
What is it? What' s in it? How can I use it? and Product format. This description
is no longer linked to the "Products" section of the BTS web site; however, it
appears when one follows the pathway through the National Transportation Data
Archive section of the site to the entry for the Fatal Accident Reporting System
Database, which contains a link to the CD-ROM descnption.
; a :
, ~0 :
Traffic Safety Data CD-ROM
Traffic Safety Data CD-ROM contains the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) 1975-
1994 and General Estimates System (G KS) 1988-1994 in ASCII format. These data are
collected by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Ad-
ministration (NHTSA). Also included on this cd-rom are the FARS Analytic Reference Guide
1975-1995, a detailed reference source describing the comparability of data variables over
the course of the survey's evolution. In addition, NHTSA's Traffic Safety Report 1994 and
Traffic Safety Fact Sheets are included on this CD-ROM and may be browsed using the on-
disc Folio software.
[Alphabetical Listing] [Subject Listing] [Media Listing] [Mode Listing]
[BTS Products Page] [BTS Services] [Order Form]
Feedback? Questions? commentsff~bts.gov
FIGURE E-3 Description of the Traffic Safety Data CD-ROM.
OCR for page 136
136
........................................................................................ ~ ~ b ~.
::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: T::: T::: ::: ::: ::: ::: ::: :: ::: :::
What is it?
APPENDIX E
i' .............................................................................................................................................................................
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
... ...
..... , I
......................
· : ~
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics's Transborder Surface Freight Dataset, avail-
able since April 1993, contains freight flow data by commodity type and by surface
mode of transportation (rail, truck, pipeline or mail) for U.S. exports to and imports from
Canada and Mexico. The data are processed and summarized for BTS by the U.S.
Census Bureau on a monthly basis.
What's in it?
The Transborder Surface Freight dataset provides previously unpublished surface
transportation data (other than air or maritime vessel) for U.S. import and export trade
with or through Canada and Mexico. The dataset includes two sets of tables; one is
commodity based while the other provides geographic detail.
The source data for import and exports are the administrative trade records required by
the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Treasury. An increasing amount of import and
export statistical information is now being captured electronically. For imports from
Canada and Mexico, approximately 95 percent of the value of those imports is collected
electronically via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI). For exports to Mexico, approxi-
mately 55 percent are collected through the Automated Export Reporting Program
(AERP) where data are filed directly with the U.S. Census Bureau while the remainder
are collected from paper export documents (Shippers' Export Declarations (SEDs)) that
are filed with the U.S. Customs Service and processed by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Exports to Canada are obtained through the U.S./Canada Data Exchange, under which
the U.S. obtains the data Canada uses for its imports from the U.S.
How can I use it?
The Transborder Surface Freight Dataset is being used by a variety of organizations for
a number of purposes, including the monitoring of freight flows and changes to these
since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the United
States, Canada and Mexico in December 1993 and its entry into force on January 1,
1994. In addition, the dataset is being used by:
FIGURE E-4 Description of the Transborder Surface Freight Transportation Dataset.
OCR for page 137
CD-ROM PRODUCTS
· news organizations in reports;
· consultants in trade corridor studies;
· businesses in marketing plans and logistics studies;
· academic institutions in trade and transportation analyses;
· state and local government organizations for economic development studies and
transportation and infrastructure planning purposes.
137
PRODUCT FORMAT: The Transborder Surface Freight Dataset is available at the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics' Internet site.
[Alphabetical Listing] [Subject Listing] [Media Listing] [Mode Listing]
[BTS Products Page] [BTS Services] [Order Form]
Feedback? Questions? commentsff~bts.gov
FIGURE E-4 Continued
Transborder Surface Freight Data
The description of the Transborder Surface Freight Transportation data set,
which contains information on quarterly shipments between the United States
and Mexico and the United States and Canada from unpublished customs data
processed by the Census Bureau, has information under the headings: What is it?
What's in it? How can I use it? and Product format (see Figure E-4. The de-
scription of content is brief for example, the user is not informed as to whether
the data pertain to value, tonnage of shipments, or some other metric. "Product
format" is listed, not as a CD-ROM, but as data that are directly accessible on the
BTS web site. The data are in fact accessible through the National Transportation
Data Archive section of the site, at which location they are searchable by state
and commodity code. The data are also available on a CD-ROM, but the data set
description that is linked to the "Products" section of the web site no longer men-
tions the CD-ROM product. (An earlier description advertised the availability of
the CD-ROM but did not mention the direct availability of the data on the BTS
web site.)
Representative terms from entire chapter:
transborder surface
