Transportation statistical data and information

In 1975 the U. S. Department of Transportation created its first transportation statistical information division at the newly formed Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, MA. For nearly twenty years the division provided essential statistical data documents and special products to the public with regard to the details and state of transportation in the USA. With the emergence of minicomputers and the creation of the first practical Relational Database models and software, the Center was in the position to build the first National Transportation System statistical database system.

This document outlines the initial hierarchical structure that was proposed and used to construct the first transportation statistics database and application system. The effort grew over the years and eventually, in 1992, re-established itself as the Bureau of Transportation Statistics in the Research and Special Programs Administration of the U. S. Department of Transportation where the program continues today.

The authors were the Chief Statistician and Database System Designer at the time.