Transportation Economic Trends
Government Transportation Revenues and Expenditures:
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' Government Transportation Financial Statistics (GTFS) provides information on
transportation-related revenue and expenditures for all levels of government
and for all modes of transportation. It aggregates data from a variety of
sources, including the Office of Management and Budget’s Public Budget
Database, the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Statistics Report,
the National Transit Database, the FAA’s Airport Financial Report, tax
data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey
of State and Local Government Finances.
Government Transportation Revenue
Transportation revenue
includes taxes, charges, and fees collected by governments from transportation
and non-transportation activities and allocated to transportation programs. It
includes income from investing transportation funds and receipts from fines and
penalties. For reporting, transportation revenue is classified into two
categories:
1. Own-source revenue
2. Supporting revenue minus transportation revenue directed to other uses
Own-source revenue
Refers to taxes and charges levied
on transportation-related activities and used specifically for transportation.
Most of these revenue sources are user fees charged to users of the transportation
system. Examples include the following:
- Excise taxes, such as motor fuel taxes and aviation taxes
- Property taxes, such as motor vehicle taxes
- Charges, such as tolls and motor vehicle license fees
- Fines and penalties, such as speeding and parking violation tickets
- Investment income, such as interest income from the Highway Trust Fund balance
- Concession income, such as that received by airport authorities
Supporting revenue
Includes funds collected from
non-transportation-related activities but dedicated to support transportation
programs. Examples include receipts received by state and local governments
from sales or property taxes to finance transportation projects. It excludes funds
raised from transportation-related activities but used to finance programs
other than transportation. For example, receipts generated from motor fuel
taxes directed to the general fund for other uses.
Government Transportation Expenditures
Transportation expenditures are outlays that the government pays to provide an efficient
and safe transportation system, regardless of the sources of funding and regardless
of which agencies make the payments. Expenditures include both capital
investments and money spent to maintain and operate the transportation system.
Government expenditures on transportation exclude those not directly supporting
the transportation system, such payments for military shipments.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
Related Data and Interactive Visualizations
