graphic THE IMPORTANCE OF SHARING DATA graphic

Data collected by the Federal Highway Administration is used to support the following data systems and programs:

  • The Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) is a set of special tabulations from the decennial census designed for transportation planners. CTPP contains tabulations by place of residence; place of work, and for flows between home and work.

  • The HEPGIS is an interactive, Web-based geographic information system (GIS) that enables users to access transportation-related geo-spatial data using only their Web browsers. Simple navigation tools allow users to locate and zoom in to a geographic area of interest, and to create maps showing various geographic features and themes, for example MPO boundaries.

  • The Highway Statistics Report is prepared by the Office of Highway Policy Information. It presents the analyzed statistics of general interest on motor fuel, motor vehicles, driver licensing, highway-user taxation, State highway finance, highway mileage, Federal aid for highways, and highway finance data for municipalities, counties, townships, and other units of local government. The report can be viewed at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/index.htm

  • Intermodal Facilities database provides a listing of roads that provide access between major intermodal facilities and the other four subsystems making up the National Highway System.

  • The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) is a national compilation of highway bridges. Information in the database include: type structure, material type, load ratings, etc.

  • The Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) provides essential data on highway conditions, performance, and usage for all states. The HPMS is updated each year.

  • The Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) is a multi-State safety database that contains crash, roadway inventory, and traffic volume data for a select group of nine States based on the quality of their data, the range of data available, and their ability to merge the data from the various files.

  • The National Highway Planning Network (NHPN) is a 1:100,000 scale network database that contains line features representing just over 450,000 miles of current and planned highways in the United States. The NHPN consists of interstates, principal arterials, and rural minor arterials.


  • The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), formerly the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS), serves as the nation’s inventory of personal travel. It is the only authoritative source of national data on personal travel behavior including purpose of the trip, means of transportation, trip length, day of week and month of the year, number of people on trip, and a host of other trip-making characteristics.

  • The Road Weather Information System (RWIS) is comprised of Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) in the field, a communication system for data transfer, and central systems to collect field data from numerous ESS. These stations measure atmospheric, pavement and water level conditions.

  • The Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) is a network of highways that are important to the United States’ strategic defense policy and which provide defense access, continuity, and emergency capabilities for defense purposes.

  • The Traffic Volume Trends (TVT) is a monthly report based on hourly traffic count data reported by the States. This data is collected at approximately 4,000 continuous traffic counting locations nationwide and is used to estimate the percent change in traffic for the current month compared with the same month in the previous year.