BTS Seeks Help To Build Better Statistical Forecasts

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is reviewing how its service and operations might improve in the next few years. BTS is one of 16 federal statistical agencies and the lead source for commercial aviation, multimodal freight and transportation economics. It has opened a public comment period to help inform this review.

BTS wants to present information and indicators that are timely and forward-looking and also less expensive to prepare. It seeks to take advantage of new data sources and analytical methods to compile and present its products. BTS specifically seeks input from data scientists, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning experts, statisticians and economists familiar with BTS datasets.

BTS’ information is central to operations on inland waterways and Gulf coastal ports. Its National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), for example, presents network data and maps. BTS provides a state-by-state breakdown that details each state’s infrastructure, safety and freight movement, economy and finance and energy and related environmental information. Similarly, the Port Performance program measures freight capacity and throughput.

Ethan Alpern is BTS director for statistical program coordination acting director for the Office of Information and Library Sciences. He said the current review will help BTS establish “our next strategic roadmap,” taking advantage of new and emerging transportation technologies and statistics.

For example, Alpern referenced a new BTS program underway to define volumes and locations of empty containers nationwide. “This will explore container movements across all transportation modes, including the inland waterway system,” Alpern said. This is designed to help U.S. export markets, reducing logistical burdens on U.S. companies and aiding them in remaining competitive overseas. Alpern added, “This will be one of hopefully many new data sources that improve the timeliness of BTS statistics and further build capacity.”

State and private sector transportation officials are monitoring BTS’ initiative. Jesse Newberry is national practice manager for technical advisory at HNTB, a national transportation consulting firm.

Newberry said BTS’ internal evaluation matters “because BTS plays a unique role as a trusted national source of transportation data,” providing data that is “consistent, credible and usable across modes and geographies.” He cited BTS’ combination of port performance data with NTAD’s inland waterway, lock, port and intermodal freight datasets. “That matters because goods movement depends on understanding the full system, not just the port, but also the waterways, terminals and freight connections around the port,” he said.

Newberry’s suggested priorities for change are to improve usability through better metadata, APIs, documentation, and interoperability; to expand datasets supporting real-world decisions, especially around freight, withstanding disruptions and multimodal connectivity; and to strengthen user engagement so BTS responds to the most important gaps in the market.

Newberry further suggests BTS focus on “being the authoritative public data backbone for transportation planning, operations and next-generation analytics, which can then set us all up to leverage AI on top of very complete data sets.”

BTS numbers are important for state officials, as well. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), for example, relies on BTS Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) data to inform development of commodity flow estimates and projections for Ohio’s state freight plan, according to Randy Lane, ODOT’s freight and maritime manager. That plan needs to be updated every four years, a USDOT requirement. Lane said BTS data provides baseline and future year projections across all modes of transportation and 42 commodity types. He added that ODOT “would welcome focused improvements that allow states to better access and analyze the data through new tools and innovations for analysis.”

In its request for comments, BTS highlights 16 broad topics, ranging from how BTS information is currently used to gaps in current datasets. To comment, go to Regulations.gov and use docket DOT-OST-2026-1387. The deadline has been extended to July 31.