Measuring the Contribution of Transportation to the U.S. Economy: U.S. Transportation Satellite Account

The importance of transportation to the U.S. economy is widely recognized. However, the current statistics within the U.S. national accounts and transportation statistics underestimate the true contribution of transportation to the U.S. economy. The U.S. Transportation Satellite Account (TSA), a multistage joint project between the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, attempts to provide a set of measures of the interdependence between transportation and the U.S. economy at the most detailed level. On the basis of these measures, determinations can be made of how much transportation contributes to the U.S. economy as a whole, which industries use how much transportation services, the extent to which transportation uses up social resources, and so on. The theoretical framework established for the core account of the TSA is presented. The structure of the account and estimation procedures for its construction are discussed. How the account can be combined with the U.S. Input-Output accounts to develop complete accounts with a more detailed representation of transportation for different purposes is illustrated.