Transportation Economic Trends
Transportation Public Finance Statistics (TPFS)
Transportation Economic Concepts
This page highlights transportation economic concepts related to government transportation revenues and expenditures.
Government Transportation Financial Statistics
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Transportation Public Finance Statistics (TPFS) provides information on transportation-related revenue and expenditures for all levels of government, including federal, state, and local, and for all modes of transportation. As of June 2024, TPFS replaces the previous Government Transportation Financial Statistics (GTFS).
The TPFS provides more granularity by expanding the categories of revenues and expenditures. It also now includes estimates. BTS will release preliminary estimates in June in addition to the final annual release in December. This new release increases the timeliness of the statistics by 6 months, reporting preliminary estimates 18 months after the one-year reference period (e.g., data for the 2022 reference period is published in June 2024). The final annual release of TPFS occurs 24 months after the one-year reference period (e.g., data for the 2022 reference period is published December 2024).
The TPFS aggregates data from a variety of sources to provide information on transportation-related expenditures for all levels of government and for all modes of transportation. For more information on the data sources and methodology, visit the User Guide and Technical Documentation.
Government Transportation Revenue
TPFS reports public sector transportation revenue, including taxes and fees derived from transportation users and other revenue used for transportation purposes in several categories: user-based revenue, own-source revenue, supporting revenue, and other. TPFS includes only revenue that is used for transportation purposes.
1. Own-source revenue: includes user-based revenue and other revenue earned or directly generated by transportation agencies. Own-source revenue can also have a sub classification of user-based or other.
i. User-based revenue: includes only revenue generated from charges on users of the mode related to their transportation activity. User-based revenue is included in the mode where it is generated. For example, motor fuel taxes are categorized as user-based highway revenue, including those used for transit purposes. This revenue is also counted as supporting revenue for transit. Revenue data may be viewed by “User-based” and “Other (non user-based)” with the TPFS data tabulation tool.
ii. Other revenue: revenue that is not user-based.
2. Supporting revenue: is all other revenue used for transportation purposes, such as general funds or other government revenues.
Government Transportation Expenditures
TPFS reports capital and noncapital expenditure by public sector entities but excludes principal repayment on debt and noncash expenditure like depreciation. Public sector expenditure goes through three principal stages. The first is authorization, when budgetary authority is approved. The next step is obligation, when an agency enters into a binding agreement that will result in an outlay. The final stage is the outlay, when the government issues a payment or reimbursement. TPFS reports outlays.
Expenditures include two categories:
1. Capital expenditure: is typically defined as outlays for new equipment and structures and for improving or enhancing the capacity and quality of existing equipment and structures. The defining feature of
capital expenditure is the useful life they support; capital improvements are intended to last more than one year. The precise definition of capital expenditure can vary across states and data sources. TPFS data on capital expenditure are consistent with underlying data sources.
2. Non-capital expenditure: includes operation and maintenance costs as well as research, administration, and other not capital investment costs that public sector agencies incur in managing transportation systems.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
