RITA Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Transportation Satellite Accounts: A Look at Transportation’s Role in the Economy

TRB, National Academy of Sciences, 2011. 60 p. This report explores transportation satellite accounts (TSAs). TSAs provide a means for measuring the contribution of transportation services to the national economy. According to the BTS, prior to the TSAs, the magnitude of transportation services had long been underestimated, as most national measures counted only the value of for-hire services. Measurement of services provided only by for-hire firms misses the sizable contribution of transportation services that take place within non-transportation industries, termed as in-house transportation. Table of Contents Summary Introduction Purpose of the TSAs Measures of Transportation Activities Conceptual Overview of the TSAs Components of the TSAs Make Table Use Table Direct Requirements Table Industry-by-Commodity Total Requirements Table Methodology Methodological Overview Changes in Method in the 1997 TSAs and Comparability The Role of Transportation in the Economy Findings From 1997 TSAs Comparison of 1997 TSAs to the 1992 TSAs Introduction Findings from the 1997 and 1992 TSAs Future Work