Government Reference Sources: Transportation

Transportation: Databases and Online Collections

• TRIS Online/National Transportation Library Digital Collection. One search interface with the ability to search TRIS Online and the NTL Digital Collection simultaneously or separately. TRIS Online is the searchable Transportation Research Information Services database of references to books, technical reports, conference proceedings, journal articles and on-going research in the field of transportation.
• TranStats for finding transportation-related statistics.
• American Factfinder (Census Bureau). This database includes data on journey to work, means of transportation used, carpooling, and travel time to work. Go to Data Sets and use the Decennial Census sample data sets (such as Summary File 3) and/or American Community Survey. Geographic levels available vary from local to national, depending upon the data set used.
• National Transportation Library, a virtual library for transportation:
  • Information Resources and Tools
  • FAQs

Additional Reference Sources

• National Transportation Statistics
• National Traffic and Road Closure Information
• Traffic Safety includes information on impaired driving, pedestrians, young drivers, motorcycles, occupant protection and other topics.
• Safercar.gov has information on crash tests, recalls, etc.
• Fuel Economy Site
• Airline Information
• Economic Census and Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey.

Major Federal Agencies for Transportation Information

• United States Department of Transportation and its agencies, a few of which are:
  • Bureau of Transportation Statistics
  • Federal Aviation Administration
  • Federal Highway Administration
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: motor vehicle recalls, crash data, etc.
  • Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• United States Census Bureau
  • Subject Index
  • American Factfinder
  • Publications on Transportation
• Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences
• Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration
• National Transportation Safety Board and its Accident Reports
• United States. Congress
  • House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  • Congressional Hearings. Several years of recent hearings are searchable online and available full-text. Many older hearings are owned by the Oviatt Library in print or microfiche format. Good for researching policy issues and problems.

Strategies to Find More

1. Search engines especially for government information
   • Google's U.S. Government Search. Tip: If you are unsuccessful at this point in your search and you suspect that the information you need may be from a professional association or other non-government source, try Google, to search all internet domains rather than just .gov sites.
   • USA.gov
   • Site indexes and/or site search engines are available at many state and local agency websites, including the California Department of Transportation.
2. Internet Search Engines, a list of some favorite internet search engines.
3. Library Catalogs often allow searching by subject, author, title and keyword to identify what is available at a specific library. Library catalogs include print materials such as books and other formats, including online sources. Try using the Oviatt Library's Library Catalog or Other Library Catalogs.
4. Resources that repackage government data and/or focus on a specific state/topic
   • Example: RAND California (Oviatt Library subscription; not available to all users) includes Freeway and Highway Statistics for California, Airport Operating Statistics for California, Border Crossing Statistics, and Traffic Congestion Statistics for 68 urban areas in the United States, including 8 in California. An online training exercise for RAND California Statistics is available. Much of the data in RAND California is based on government information repackaged into a easy-to-use menu-driven interface.

Created and maintained by Mary M. Finley
Questions or comments: mary.finley@csun.edu
Links checked: 16 June 2008