see also: in Department of Transportation PGAs:   Maritime Administration   National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on the web:   Bureau of Transportation Statistics   ISTEA

On February 20, 2005, BTS became a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). RITA is composed of BTS, the former Research Office of the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (formerly with RSPA), Transportation Safety Institute (formerly with RSPA), and Office of Intermodalism (formerly with the Office of the Secretary). BTS is headed by a Director, appointed by the Secretary of Transportation, and the Director reports to the RITA Administrator.

As a statistical agency, BTS:

• is policy-neutral-an objective broker for the facts
• covers all of transportation; BTS is cross-modal in nearly everything we do
• does independent data collection and analysis, but BTS also serves all the other modes to help them be more effective and efficient
• sets standards for transportation data
• has special statutory protections (essentially the same as those for Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics) for the confidentiality of data we collect
• has unique competencies in statistics, economics, information technology, geographic information systems, and transportation

Over the years of its existence, BTS established itself with a focus in three key areas, each mandated by legislation: 1) compiling, analyzing, and publishing a comprehensive set of transportation statistics; 2) making statistics readily accessible; and 3) implementing a long term data collection program. Visit the website of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. ( Bureau of Transportation Statistics )