Transportation in the United States

Passenger transportation is dominated by a network of over 3.9 million miles of highways[2] which is pervasive and highly developed by global standards. Passenger transportation is dominated by passenger vehicles (including cars, trucks, vans, and motorcycles), which account for 86% of passenger-miles traveled. The remaining 14% was handled by planes, trains, and buses.[3][4] Public transit use is highly concentrated in large older cities, with only six above 25% and only New York City above 50% of trips on transit. Airlines carry almost all non-commuter intercity traffic, except the Northeast Corridor where Amtrak carries more than all airlines combined.

The world's second largest automobile market,[5] the United States has the highest rate of per-capita vehicle ownership in the world, with 865 vehicles per 1,000 Americans.[6]

Bicycle usage is minimal with the American Community Survey reporting that bicycle commuting had a 0.61% mode share in 2012 (representing 856,000 American workers nationwide).[7][8]

Freight transportation is carried by a variety of networks. The largest percentage of US freight is carried by trucks (60%), followed by pipelines (18%), rail (10%), ship (8%), and air (0.01%).[10] Other modes of transportation, such as parcels and intermodal freight accounted for about 3% of the remainder. Air freight is commonly used only for perishables and premium express shipments. The difference in percentage of rail's share by ton-miles and by weight (10% vs 38%) is accounted for by the extreme efficiency of trains. A single railroad locomotive may pull fifty boxcars full of freight while a truck only pulls one. Trucks surpass trains in the weight category due their greater numbers, while trains surpass trucks in the ton-miles category due to the vast distances they travel carrying large amounts of freight.

Usually cargo, apart from petroleum and other bulk commodities, is imported in containers through seaports, then distributed by road and rail. The quasi-governmental United States Postal Service has a monopoly on letter delivery (except for express services) but several large private companies such as FedEx and UPS compete in the package and cargo delivery market.

Freight flows by:

  Interstate-Highways

  Highways

  Railways

  Inland waterways

In the late 18th century, overland transportation was by horse, while water and river transportation was primarily by sailing vessel. The United States population was centered on its Atlantic coast, with all major population centers located on a natural harbor or navigable waterway. Low population density between these centers resulted in a heavy reliance on coastwise and riverboat shipping. The first government expenditures on highway transportation were funded to speed the delivery of overland mail, such as the Boston Post Road between New York City and Boston. Due to the distances between these population centers and the cost to maintain the roads, many highways in the late 18th century and early 19th century were private turnpikes. Other highways were mainly unimproved and impassable by wagon at least some of the year. Economic expansion in the late 18th century to early 19th century spurred the building of canals to speed goods to market, of which the most prominently successful example was the Erie Canal.

Numerous modes of transportation fought for supremacy throughout the Industrial revolution of the 19th century. Canals swiftly took the role of turnpikes, stagecoaches, and wagon routes, which in turn were shortly replaced by steam-powered riverboats. During this period, the advancement in transportation inspired many artists to display the grand contrast from the past to the new. Taking a look at Samuel Colman's work, one piece in particular, Storm King on the Hudson (1866) displayed both the older sailboats and the grand steamboats that were overtaking the Hudson River.

Access to water transportation shaped the geography of early settlements and boundaries. For example, the Erie Canal escalated the boundary dispute called the Toledo War between Ohio and Michigan in the 1830s. The disputed Erie Triangle was awarded to Pennsylvania, giving that state access to Lake Erie. Most of West Florida was given to Mississippi and Alabama to guarantee their access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Development of the mid-western and southern states drained by the Mississippi River system (Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri Rivers) was accelerated by the introduction of steamboats on these rivers in the early 19th Century. These three rivers (among others) also form the borders of several states. Prior to the introduction of steamboats, transit upstream was impractical because of strong currents on parts of these waterways. Steamboats provided both passenger and freight transportation until the development of railroads later in the 19th Century gradually reduced their presence.

The rapid expansion of Railroads brought the canal boom to a sudden end, providing a quick, scheduled and year-round mode of transportation that quickly spread to interconnect the states by the mid-19th century. During the industrialization of the United States after the Civil War, railroads, led by the transcontinental rail system in the 1860s, expanded quickly across the United States to serve industries and the growing cities. During the late 19th century, railroads often had built redundant routes to a competitor's road or built through sparsely populated regions that generated little traffic. These marginal rail routes survived the pricing pressures of competition, or the lack of revenue generated by low traffic, as long as railroads provided the only efficient economical way to move goods and people across the United States. In addition to the intercity passenger network running on Class I and II railroads, a large network of interurban (trolley or "street running") rail lines extended out from the cities and interchanged passenger and freight traffic with the railroads and also provided competition.

The Jane Byrne Interchange in downtown Chicago

The advent of the automobile signaled the end of railroads as the predominant transportation for people and began a new era of mobility in the United States. The early 20th century Lincoln Highway and other auto trails gave way in the 1920s to an early national highway system making the automobile the primary mode of travel for most Americans. Interurban rail service declined, followed by trolley cars due in part to the advent of motorized buses and the lack of dedicated rights-of-way but also by deliberate efforts to dismantle urban rail infrastructure.

The scarcity of industrial materials during World War II slowed the growth of automobile manufacturing briefly and contributed to the nation's declining rail network. In the 1950s, however, the United States renewed building a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways to link its vast territory. The most important element is the Interstate Highway system, first commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled partly after the Italian autostrada and the German Autobahn system.

By 1945, after the end of World War II, nearly every city in America had at least one electric tram company providing intra-city transportation. There were an estimated 36,377 light rail vehicles in operation. Increased automobile ownership cut this number by 1/3 by 1965.[17]

The airline industry began to successfully compete with intercity rail as a result of government investment, which suffered a loss of ridership. As the civil air transportation network of airports and other infrastructure expanded, air travel became more accessible to the general population. Technological advances ushered in the jet age, which increased airline capacity, while decreasing travel times and the cost of flights. The costs of flying rapidly decreased intercity rail ridership by the late 1960s to a point where railroads could no longer profitably operate networks of passenger trains. By the early 1970s almost all passenger rail operation and ownership had been transferred to various federal, municipal and state agencies.

Freight railroads continued to decline as motor freight captured a significant portion of the less-than-carload business. This loss of business, when combined with the highly regulated operating environment and constrained pricing power, forced many railroads into receivership and the nationalization of several critical eastern carriers into the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). Deregulation of the railroads by the Staggers Act in 1980 created a regulatory environment more favorable to the economics of the railroad industry.

In the 1990s, the increase in foreign trade and intermodal container shipping led to a revival of the freight railroads, which have effectively consolidated into two eastern and two western private transportation networks: Union Pacific and BNSF in the west, and CSX and Norfolk Southern in the east. Canadian National Railway took over the Illinois Central route down the Mississippi River valley.

In 2014, freight transportation establishments serving for-hire transportation and warehousing operations employed nearly 4.6 million workers and comprised 9.5 percent of the Nation's economic activity as measured by GDP. Truck driving is by far the largest freight transportation occupation, with approximately 2.83 million truck drivers. About 57.5 percent of these professional truck drivers operate heavy or Tractor-trailer trucks and 28.2 percent drive light or delivery service trucks.[18]

According to Freight Facts and Figures 2015, U.S. freight transportation system handled a record amount of freight in 2014. A daily average of approximately 55 million tons of freight valued at $49.3 billion moved across the transportation system in 2014 to meet the needs of the nation's 122.5 million households, 7.5 million business establishments, and 90,056 Government units.[18]

Wartime expediency encouraged long distance pipeline transport of petroleum and natural gas, which was greatly expanded in the middle 20th century to take over most of the domestic long-haul market.

The Interstate highway system in the United States is the largest national controlled-access highway network in the world.

Maximum speed limits in the U.S. states vary by state from 60 to 85 mph.

Maximum speed limits in the U.S. territories vary by territory from 15 to 65 mph.

In comparison to some parts of the Western world, both the United States and Canada rely more heavily on motorized transit over walking and bicycling[19] with 86% of American workers commuting to work via private vehicle,[20][21] costing an estimated additional $1500 per year commuting compared to Western European counterparts.[22] Car ownership is on the decline[23] but still 91% nationally.[24] Car ownership is universal, except in the largest cities where extensive mass transit and railroad systems have been built,[23] with lowest car ownership rates in New York City (44%), Washington, D.C. (62%), Boston (63%), Philadelphia (67%), San Francisco (69%), and Baltimore (69%).

With the development of the extensive Eisenhower Interstate Highway System in the 1950s, both long distance trips and daily commutes were mostly by private automobile. This network was designed to exacting federal standards in order to receive federal funding. The system, as of 2010, has a total length of 47,182 miles (75,932 km),[25] making it the world's second longest after China's, and the largest public works project in US history.[26]

The Interstate system joined an existing National Highway System, a designation created for the legacy highway network in 1995, comprising 160,000 miles (256,000 kilometers) of roadway, a fraction of the total mileage of roads. The Interstate system serves nearly all major U.S. cities, often through the downtown areas, which triggered freeway and expressway revolts in the 1960s and 1970s. The distribution of many goods and services involves Interstate highways at some point.[27] Residents of American cities commonly use urban Interstates to travel to their places of work. The vast majority of long-distance travel, whether for vacation or business, is by the national road network;[28] of these trips, about one-third (by the total number of miles driven in the country in 2003) utilize the Interstate system.[29]

In addition to the routes of the Interstate system, there are those of the U.S. highway system. These routes, which are unrelated to those of the National Highway System, are supplemented by State Highways, and the local roads of counties, municipal streets, and federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The five inhabited U.S. territories also have their own road networks. There are approximately 4,161,000 miles (6,696,000 km) of roads in the United States, 2,844,000 miles (4,577,000 km) paved and 1,317,000 miles (2,120,000 km) unpaved.[30] State highways are constructed by each state, but frequently maintained by county governments aided by funding from the state, where such counties exist as governing entities in mostly every state outside of the northeast. Counties construct and maintain all remaining roads outside cities, except in private communities. Local, unnumbered roads are often constructed by private contractors to local standards, then maintenance is assumed by the local government.[31]

All federal highways are maintained by state governments, although they receive federal aid to build and maintain freeways signed as part of the 46,000 mile (75,000 km) nationwide Interstate highway network. Changes by state initiative may be made with federal approval. A large number of expressways are actually government or privately operated toll roads in many East Coast and Midwestern states. West Coast freeways are generally free to users, which is the basis of their name, since freeways have no toll charged per use, although since the 1990s there have been some small experiments with toll roads operated by private companies.

After the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minnesota in August 2007, the backlog of road and bridge maintenance across the country became an issue in transportation funding.[32] The collapse prompted a tax increase in Minnesota to speed up bridge repairs, and action in other states, such as the Accelerated Bridge Program in Massachusetts, but after some debate no increase in federal funding.[32]

The I-5 Skagit River bridge collapse in 2013, caused by a collision with an over-height truck, highlighted fracture critical bridges in which the failure of only one structural member will lead to complete collapse. According to the National Bridge Inventory, there are at least 600,000 bridges of 20 feet or more in length in the United States, all subject to deterioration in the absence of preventative maintenance.[33] In December 2008, 72,868 bridges in the United States (12.1%) were categorized as "structurally deficient", representing an estimated $48 billion in repairs. President Barack Obama proposed $50 billion of spending on road and bridge repair, plus a national infrastructure bank, but Congress did not act on these proposals.[34] President Donald Trump also failed to get infrastructure funding approved. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan infrastructure bill with about $110 billion for roads and bridges.[35]

As of 2010, seat belt use is mandatory in all states except New Hampshire.[36] Seat belt use is also mandatory in Washington, D.C., the national capital, and the five inhabited U.S. territories.[36]

Greyhound Lines is the largest intercity bus company[37] in the United States, with routes in all parts of the contiguous U.S. There are also many smaller regional bus companies, many of which use the terminal and booking facilities provided by Greyhound. Intercity bus is, in most cases, the least expensive way to travel long distances in the United States.

Traffic on a typical American freeway in Los Angeles

Traffic congestion, especially at rush hour, is often considered a problem in many of the country's larger cities. A 2009 study claimed that traffic congestion costs the United States almost $87.2 billion.[38] The economic costs of traffic congestion have increased 63% over the past decade, and despite the declining traffic volumes caused by the economic downturn, Americans still waste more than 2.8 billion US gallons (11 million cubic metres) of fuel each year as a result of traffic congestion.[38] Motorists also waste 4.2 billion hours annually, or one full workweek per traveler.[38][39] Moreover, it is estimated that drivers are wasting 6.9 billion hours per year or about 42 hours per driver in traffic congestion as a result of aging infrastructure and poor road conditions.[40]

The United States continues to follow a method of attempting to resolve congestion by widening roadways. From 1993 to 2017, the nation's largest 100 urbanized areas added 42% more freeway lane milage, despite population growing by only 32%. However, this policy of widening roadways resulted in a 144% increase in congestion, due to the concept of induced demand.[41]

The trucking industry (also referred to as the transportation or logistics industry) involves the transport and distribution of commercial and industrial goods using commercial motor vehicles (CMV). In this case, CMVs are most often trucks; usually semi trucks, box trucks, or dump trucks. A truck driver (commonly referred to as a "trucker") is a person who earns a living as the driver of a CMV.

The trucking industry provides an essential service to the American economy by transporting large quantities of raw materials, works in process, and finished goods over land—typically from manufacturing plants to retail distribution centers. Trucks are also important to the construction industry, as dump trucks and portable concrete mixers are necessary to move the large amounts of rocks, dirt, concrete, and other construction material. Trucks in America are responsible for the majority of freight movement over land, and are vital tools in the manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing industries.

Large trucks and buses require a commercial driver's license (CDL) to operate. Obtaining a CDL requires extra education and training dealing with the special knowledge requirements and handling characteristics of such a large vehicle. Drivers of CMVs must adhere to the hours of service, which are regulations governing the driving hours of commercial drivers. These, and all other rules regarding the safety of interstate commercial driving, are issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The FMCSA is also a division of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), which governs all transportation-related industries such as trucking, shipping, railroads, and airlines. Some other issues are handled by another branch of the USDOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

Developments in technology, such as computers, satellite communication, and the internet, have contributed to many improvements within the industry. These developments have increased the productivity of company operations, saved the time and effort of drivers, and provided new, more accessible forms of entertainment to men and women who often spend long periods of time away from home. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implemented revised emission standards for diesel trucks (reducing airborne pollutants emitted by diesel engines) which promises to improve air quality and public health.

Within the United States:

• Alaska – Yes, via Canada and the Alaska Marine Highway in Washington
• Hawaii – No.
• American Samoa – No.
• Guam – No.
• Northern Mariana Islands – No.
• Puerto Rico – No.
• U.S. Virgin Islands – No.

With adjacent countries:

• Canada – Yes.
• Mexico – Yes.
• Russia – No, but proposed via Bering Strait crossing
• Cuba – No. Since the American embargo against Cuba, car ferry service from Florida and New Orleans to Havana ceased in 1962.[42]
• Bahamas – No, but ferries travel to the Bahamas

Each state has its own traffic code, although most of the rules of the road are similar for the purpose of uniformity, given that all states grant reciprocal driving privileges (and penalties) to each other's licensed drivers.

Passenger trains in North America (interactive map)

Grand Central Terminal in New York City, the second-busiest train station by passenger traffic in North America after Penn Station, also in New York City

Passenger trains were the dominant mode of transportation until the mid-twentieth century. The introduction of jet airplanes on major U.S. routes and the completion of the Interstate Highway System accelerated a decline in intercity rail passenger demand during the 1960s, resulting in the sharp curtailment of passenger service by private railroads. This led to the creation of National Railroad Passenger Corporation, now called Amtrak, by the U.S. federal government in 1971 to maintain limited intercity rail passenger service in most parts of the country. Amtrak serves most major cities but, outside of the Northeast, California, and Illinois, often by only a few trains per day. Amtrak does not serve several major destinations, including Las Vegas, and Phoenix, Arizona. Frequent service is available in regional corridors between certain major cities, particularly the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, between New York City and Albany, around Chicago, and in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest.

Private intercity rail ended in the United States in 1983 with the discontinuation of the Rio Grande Zephyr, until Brightline started in South Florida in 2018. The state-owned Alaska Railroad is the only other intercity passenger railroad still operating. It has only rail ferry connections with other railroads.

There are 15 heavy rail rapid transit systems in the United States. The New York City Subway is the largest rapid transit system in the world by number of stations.

The United States makes extensive use of its rail system for freight. According to the Association of American Railroads, "U.S. freight railroads are the world's busiest, moving more freight than any rail system in any other country. In fact, U.S. railroads move more than four times as much freight as do all of Western Europe's freight railroads combined."

Nearly all railroad corridors not including local transit rail systems are owned by private companies that provide freight service. Amtrak pays these companies for the right to use the tracks for passenger service. There are approximately 150,000 mi (240,000 km) of mainline track in the United States—the world's longest national railroad network. See List of United States railroads

Amtrak P42DC 164 through Orange, Virginia

Rail freight has a major national bottleneck in Chicago and the Midwest, representing approximately one-third of the nation's freight trains pass through the region,[45] which is the subject of an ongoing $4.6 billion infrastructure improvement project which started in 2003.

• Canada – Amtrak connections run daily between New York City and Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Ontario, and Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. Alaska is currently rail-accessible by train ferry from Bellingham, Washington and narrow gauge railroad from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Skagway. A proposed link to the contiguous United States would link Alaska and Canada via the Yukon and British Columbia.[46] The Canadian National Railway system includes the former Illinois Central route from Chicago via Memphis to New Orleans.
• Mexico – Several private firms run touristic trains from near El Paso, Texas, through Chihuahua, Chihuahua and the Copper Canyon to El Fuerte, Sinaloa. Such trains also run from Nogales, Sonora, but no U.S. passenger trains run near Nogales, Arizona, on the other side of the border. Another touristic train runs occasional trains between Campo, California, and Tecate, Baja California.

With few exceptions, the rail gauge is standard gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm). The White Pass and Yukon Route from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon by way of Bennett, British Columbia is 3 ft (914 mm) gauge.

On June 26, 2008, the House passed the Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act (H.R. 6052),[48] which gives grants to |mass transit authorities to lower fares for commuters pinched at the pump and expand transit services. The bill also:

• Requires that all Federal agencies offer their employees transit pass transportation fringe benefits. Federal agencies within the National Capital Region have successful transit pass benefits programs.
• Increases the federal cost-share of grants for construction of additional parking facilities at the end of subway lines from 80 to 100% to cover an increase in the number of people taking mass transit.
• Creates a pilot program for vanpool demonstration projects in urban and rural areas.
• Increases federal help for local governments to purchase alternative fuel buses, locomotives, and ferries from 90 to 100%.

The United States has 25,482 miles (41,009 km) of navigable inland channels (rivers and canals), exclusive of the Great Lakes. Out of this 12,006 miles (19,322 km) is used in commerce. About 15,000 miles (24,000 km) of the Mississippi River System are presently navigable, although not all is used for commerce.[50] The Saint Lawrence Seaway of 2,342 miles (3,769 km), including the Saint Lawrence River of 1,900 miles (3,100 km), is shared with Canada.[53]

United States ports and harbors include:

The Barbours Cut Terminal at the Port of Houston, one of the world's largest ports

Most U.S. exports and imports are on foreign ships. The 1920 Jones Act bars foreign ships from trade within the United States, thus creating a domestic "Jones Act fleet". Deck officers and ship's engineers of U.S.-flagged ships are usually trained at one of the established maritime academies.[54]

A key component of a suitable urban environment is support for pedestrian traffic, including people on foot as well as human propelled vehicles like bikes, skateboards, and scooters. Pedestrian policy is implemented at the state level, but consistent across states is the fact that the pedestrian has the right-of-way. If someone on foot is crossing the street, legally or illegally, any vehicular traffic is required to stop—under no circumstance does a driver have a right to hit a pedestrian. The exact details with respect to when a vehicle has to stop differ between the states, some requiring that all vehicles at an intersection yield to a pedestrian, while others requiring only those vehicles perpendicular to the motion of the crossing to stop.[58] California requires all vehicles at an intersection to yield to a pedestrian walking in any direction.

There are also rules for pedestrian conduct. Though they have the right-of-way, pedestrians are not permitted to leave a curb into a crosswalk close enough to a vehicle to “constitute hazard.”[59] Pedestrians must also yield to mass transit like light-rail cars and trains, as these forms of transportation operate on a schedule and are often moving too quickly to yield to a pedestrian. Pedestrians are also not permitted to delay traffic more than necessary while in a crosswalk. When not using a crosswalk, pedestrians must yield their right-of-way to vehicles who are close enough to constitute hazard. One of the issues with this kind of policy is how vague it is. A pedestrian is expected to determine on the fly what “constitutes hazard,” which can create dangerous situations leading to pedestrian injury or even death. As technology continues to advance, embedded technology like sensors and computer chips in vehicles should be able to process data very quickly and thus prevent collisions, as discussed in the Internet section found below.

A complete street is a roadway that is safe for people of any ability or age utilizing any form of transportation.[60] The concept revolves around the fact that streets are communal spaces, so anyone has a right to access them. In order to ensure universal safety, however, policy exists to ensure that these complete streets are maintained and utilized properly.

• Funding policies refer to the process with which state funds are allocated to the creation of pedestrian areas, bike lanes, and street markings.
• Planning policies refer to the process by which a street is expanded to include support for human powered transportation and how * this expansion fits into the urban planning as a whole.
• Engineering and design policies refer to the implementation of a complete street, including how to differentiate between bike lanes and car lanes.
• Maintenance policies refer to the process with which state funds are allocated to street maintenance to ensure that they remain safe places of travel.
• Use policies refer to the proper use of a complete street to allow efficient transportation for all.[61]

Other supporting policies indirectly related to complete streets include parking policies and vehicle restrictions. Complete streets are an important development for urban transportation because they equally support all forms of transportation, enforce safety, and ensure that everyone can navigate the busy city streets to arrive at their destination as fast as possible.

In order to ensure that traffic flow is uniformly dispersed across roadways and does not interfere with existing pedestrian and public transportation infrastructure, traffic flow policy is put in place in order to get everyone to their destination in the most efficient way possible. Traffic flow policy includes everything from how spaced out two cars should be on a highway to which cars have priority at stop signs and street lights to the proper use of bus, taxi, and carpool lanes.

Gas emissions from the transportation sector in the United States

In 2016, transportation became the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions (28.5%), exceeding electricity generation (28.4%).[73] In a report conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, an amount of 1.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide was emitted by the transportation sector in 2019. Of the 1.8 billion metric tons, 58% was emitted by personal vehicles, 25% was emitted by commercial trucks and busses, 10% was emitted by air, 3% is emitted by pipeline, 2% is by rail, and 2% is by water.[74] To reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emission from personal vehicles, people can switch to public transportation as an alternative form of transportation. A switch of lifestyle to active transportation will can reduce the pollution from the transportation sector to zero. The use of walking and cycling will encourage exercising, which can help combat the negative health effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

• Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act
• Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
• Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
• Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

• Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964
• Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970
• National Mass Transportation Assistance Act
• Project Independence