Transportation requirements vary by sector and within a sector, vary by industry.  Sectors and industries contributing the most to gross domestic product (GDP) (top left in the figure below) tend to employ the largest number of workers in transportation-related occupations (top right) and use the most transportation (bottom left). GDP is the sum of the value of all goods and services produced in the economy.

As shown in the use of transportation service by industry or sector, some sectors or industries use a small total dollar amount of transportation but require a large amount of transportation per dollar of output, which makes them a transportation dependent sector. Each sector or industry requires a different mix of transportation and transportation-related workers. Explore the requirements for each sector or industry using the drop-down menu.

U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.

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Transportation's direct contribution to the economy