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Fact #515: April 21, 2008
The Transportation Services Index, January 1990-January 2008

The Transportation Services Index (TSI), created by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, measures the movement of freight and passengers. The index, which is seasonally adjusted, combines available data on freight traffic, as well as passenger travel, that have been weighted to yield a monthly measure of transportation services output. In March of 2005, the TSI combined index became a Federal economic index used for measuring the performance of the U.S. economy. Though the Freight and Passenger Indices generally trend in the same direction, they are influenced by different factors in the short term as demonstrated by the events of September 11, 2001 which resulted in a precipitous drop in the TSI Passenger Index but had little affect on the overall TSI Freight Index.

Supporting Information

Transportation Services Index (TSI), January 1990 – January 2008 (Seasonally Adjusted) Chain-type Index: 2000 = 100

	Freight	from previous month	Passenger	from previous month	Combined	from previous month
January 1990	66.6		70.5		67.1
February 1990	67.7	1.8%	71.3	1.1%	68.2	1.6%
March 1990	68.8	1.6%	71.4	0.1%	69.1	1.2%
April 1990	69.1	0.5%	70.1	-1.8%	69.0	-0.1%
May 1990	67.9	-1.7%	69.4	-1.0%	67.9	-1.5%
June 1990	68.6	0.9%	69.8	0.6%	68.5	0.9%
July 1990	68.3	-0.4%	69.8	0.0%	68.3	-0.3%
August 1990	68.0	-0.4%	70.7	1.3%	68.3	0.0%
September 1990	69.2	1.7%	69.4	-1.9%	68.9	0.8%
October 1990	68.0	-1.7%	69.8	0.7%	68.1	-1.2%
November 1990	67.7	-0.4%	69.3	-0.8%	67.7	-0.5%
December 1990	67.9	0.4%	72.9	5.2%	68.7	1.5%
January 1991	67.4	-0.7%	70.0	-4.0%	67.7	-1.5%
February 1991	67.5	0.1%	64.4	-7.9%	66.5	-1.7%
March 1991	66.8	-1.0%	63.5	-1.5%	65.8	-1.1%
April 1991	66.2	-0.9%	69.8	9.9%	66.7	1.4%
May 1991	66.2	-0.1%	69.9	0.2%	66.7	0.0%
June 1991	68.5	3.5%	69.3	-0.8%	68.3	2.5%
July 1991	69.2	1.0%	69.7	0.6%	69.0	0.9%
August 1991	70.3	1.6%	69.8	0.2%	69.9	1.3%
September 1991	71.4	1.6%	70.2	0.5%	70.8	1.4%
October 1991	70.5	-1.3%	69.8	-0.6%	70.0	-1.2%
November 1991	70.8	0.4%	70.7	1.4%	70.4	0.6%
December 1991	70.8	0.1%	71.4	0.9%	70.6	0.3%
January 1992	71.6	1.0%	70.3	-1.5%	71.0	0.5%
February 1992	72.5	1.3%	70.9	0.8%	71.8	1.2%
March 1992	73.0	0.7%	70.6	-0.3%	72.2	0.5%
April 1992	73.9	1.2%	69.0	-2.3%	72.5	0.5%
May 1992	74.1	0.3%	71.0	2.9%	73.1	0.9%
June 1992	73.0	-1.5%	74.7	5.2%	73.0	-0.1%
July 1992	74.7	2.4%	77.5	3.8%	75.0	2.7%
August 1992	74.5	-0.3%	78.6	1.4%	75.1	0.1%
September 1992	73.1	-1.9%	75.3	-4.2%	73.3	-2.4%
October 1992	74.3	1.6%	72.1	-4.3%	73.5	0.3%
November 1992	74.8	0.7%	73.8	2.4%	74.2	1.0%
December 1992	74.9	0.1%	73.7	-0.2%	74.3	0.1%
January 1993	78.1	4.2%	75.2	2.1%	77.1	3.7%
February 1993	76.0	-2.7%	75.2	-0.1%	75.4	-2.1%
March 1993	75.1	-1.1%	74.5	-0.9%	74.6	-1.0%
April 1993	76.6	2.0%	74.4	0.0%	75.8	1.5%
May 1993	77.3	1.0%	75.4	1.4%	76.6	1.1%
June 1993	76.8	-0.7%	73.7	-2.4%	75.7	-1.1%
July 1993	75.8	-1.3%	74.3	0.9%	75.1	-0.8%
August 1993	75.6	-0.2%	75.0	1.0%	75.2	0.1%
September 1993	77.2	2.0%	75.8	1.0%	76.5	1.8%
October 1993	78.8	2.1%	76.7	1.3%	78.0	1.9%
November 1993	79.6	1.0%	76.8	0.0%	78.6	0.8%
December 1993	78.7	-1.2%	76.8	0.1%	77.9	-0.8%
January 1994	79.6	1.2%	76.4	-0.6%	78.5	0.7%
February 1994	79.6	0.0%	76.4	0.0%	78.5	0.0%
March 1994	82.0	3.0%	77.2	1.2%	80.4	2.5%
April 1994	75.2	-8.2%	77.2	-0.1%	75.7	-5.9%
May 1994	83.2	10.6%	77.4	0.3%	81.3	7.5%
June 1994	84.5	1.6%	78.1	0.8%	82.4	1.4%
July 1994	83.5	-1.2%	78.5	0.5%	81.8	-0.7%
August 1994	83.7	0.3%	77.9	-0.7%	81.8	0.0%
September 1994	85.2	1.8%	78.6	0.8%	83.1	1.5%
October 1994	86.4	1.4%	79.8	1.5%	84.2	1.4%
November 1994	87.7	1.5%	80.3	0.6%	85.3	1.3%
December 1994	95.7	9.1%	80.8	0.7%	91.0	6.7%
January 1995	92.1	-3.8%	80.5	-0.3%	88.5	-2.8%
February 1995	91.5	-0.6%	79.4	-1.4%	87.7	-0.8%
March 1995	88.0	-3.8%	79.3	0.0%	85.3	-2.8%
April 1995	88.5	0.5%	79.6	0.4%	85.7	0.5%
May 1995	86.7	-2.0%	79.2	-0.5%	84.3	-1.6%
June 1995	87.6	1.1%	79.1	-0.1%	84.9	0.7%
July 1995	87.5	-0.1%	79.8	0.8%	85.0	0.1%
August 1995	88.3	0.9%	80.0	0.3%	85.6	0.7%
September 1995	88.7	0.5%	80.5	0.6%	86.1	0.5%
October 1995	85.8	-3.3%	80.4	-0.1%	84.0	-2.4%
November 1995	85.5	-0.3%	81.1	0.9%	84.1	0.0%
December 1995	86.1	0.7%	82.2	1.3%	84.8	0.9%
January 1996	83.3	-3.3%	81.5	-0.8%	82.7	-2.5%
February 1996	84.6	1.5%	84.2	3.2%	84.4	2.0%
March 1996	86.6	2.4%	84.3	0.2%	85.8	1.7%
April 1996	86.9	0.3%	83.3	-1.2%	85.7	-0.1%
May 1996	87.4	0.6%	84.2	1.1%	86.4	0.8%
June 1996	87.8	0.4%	84.9	0.8%	86.8	0.5%
July 1996	88.2	0.5%	85.0	0.2%	87.1	0.4%
August 1996	88.0	-0.2%	85.3	0.4%	87.1	-0.1%
September 1996	87.4	-0.6%	85.4	0.1%	86.7	-0.4%
October 1996	88.6	1.4%	85.8	0.4%	87.7	1.1%
November 1996	89.2	0.7%	85.2	-0.7%	87.9	0.3%
December 1996	88.8	-0.4%	86.4	1.5%	88.0	0.1%
January 1997	89.7	0.9%	88.2	2.1%	89.1	1.3%
February 1997	91.0	1.4%	88.3	0.1%	90.1	1.0%
March 1997	90.6	-0.4%	88.0	-0.4%	89.7	-0.4%
April 1997	92.3	1.9%	87.8	-0.2%	90.8	1.2%
May 1997	92.5	0.2%	87.4	-0.4%	90.8	0.0%
June 1997	92.2	-0.3%	87.4	0.0%	90.6	-0.2%
July 1997	94.7	2.8%	88.0	0.7%	92.5	2.1%
August 1997	94.2	-0.5%	88.0	0.0%	92.2	-0.4%
September 1997	96.0	1.9%	89.9	2.2%	94.0	2.0%
October 1997	96.8	0.8%	88.4	-1.7%	94.1	0.1%
November 1997	96.1	-0.7%	89.7	1.4%	94.0	-0.1%
December 1997	96.8	0.7%	89.9	0.3%	94.6	0.6%
January 1998	98.2	1.4%	90.5	0.6%	95.7	1.2%
February 1998	98.0	-0.2%	90.7	0.2%	95.6	0.0%
March 1998	98.8	0.8%	89.5	-1.3%	95.8	0.2%
April 1998	100.5	1.6%	91.2	1.8%	97.4	1.7%
May 1998	100.5	0.1%	91.2	0.0%	97.5	0.0%
June 1998	101.1	0.6%	89.8	-1.6%	97.4	-0.1%
July 1998	101.1	0.1%	89.6	-0.2%	97.4	0.0%
August 1998	100.3	-0.8%	92.3	3.0%	97.7	0.3%
September 1998	99.8	-0.5%	90.1	-2.4%	96.6	-1.1%
October 1998	100.7	0.9%	92.9	3.1%	98.1	1.6%
November 1998	100.8	0.1%	93.3	0.4%	98.3	0.2%
December 1998	99.9	-0.9%	93.5	0.3%	97.8	-0.5%
January 1999	99.8	0.0%	93.4	-0.1%	97.8	-0.1%
February 1999	101.7	1.8%	93.6	0.2%	99.1	1.3%
March 1999	102.8	1.1%	93.7	0.1%	99.8	0.8%
April 1999	101.9	-0.8%	93.6	-0.1%	99.2	-0.6%
May 1999	102.4	0.4%	93.0	-0.7%	99.3	0.1%
June 1999	102.3	-0.1%	94.1	1.2%	99.6	0.3%
July 1999	102.0	-0.3%	95.7	1.7%	99.9	0.3%
August 1999	102.8	0.8%	95.6	-0.1%	100.5	0.6%
September 1999	104.0	1.2%	97.2	1.6%	101.8	1.3%
October 1999	104.1	0.0%	98.1	1.0%	102.1	0.3%
November 1999	104.1	0.1%	98.8	0.7%	102.4	0.3%
December 1999	105.0	0.8%	95.3	-3.6%	101.9	-0.6%
January 2000	104.2	-0.7%	95.3	0.1%	101.4	-0.5%
February 2000	104.1	-0.1%	96.7	1.5%	101.7	0.4%
March 2000	99.9	-4.1%	99.2	2.5%	99.7	-2.0%
April 2000	98.0	-1.9%	99.0	-0.2%	98.3	-1.4%
May 2000	99.4	1.4%	100.9	1.9%	99.9	1.6%
June 2000	100.2	0.9%	100.1	-0.8%	100.2	0.3%
July 2000	98.7	-1.5%	100.4	0.3%	99.2	-1.0%
August 2000	100.9	2.3%	100.5	0.1%	100.8	1.6%
September 2000	98.8	-2.1%	102.6	2.1%	100.0	-0.8%
October 2000	98.7	-0.1%	101.8	-0.8%	99.7	-0.3%
November 2000	99.1	0.4%	102.6	0.7%	100.2	0.5%
December 2000	97.9	-1.3%	101.0	-1.6%	98.9	-1.4%
January 2001	99.2	1.4%	101.6	0.6%	100.0	1.1%
February 2001	98.5	-0.7%	100.6	-0.9%	99.2	-0.8%
March 2001	99.4	0.9%	100.4	-0.2%	99.7	0.5%
April 2001	98.6	-0.8%	100.7	0.3%	99.3	-0.5%
May 2001	100.1	1.5%	100.6	-0.1%	100.3	1.0%
June 2001	98.7	-1.3%	100.3	-0.3%	99.2	-1.0%
July 2001	98.4	-0.4%	101.4	1.1%	99.3	0.1%
August 2001	100.3	2.0%	103.2	1.7%	101.2	1.9%
September 2001	97.4	-2.9%	79.2	-23.2%	91.9	-9.2%
October 2001	98.6	1.2%	83.4	5.2%	94.0	2.3%
November 2001	97.6	-1.0%	86.5	3.8%	94.3	0.3%
December 2001	97.3	-0.4%	91.3	5.5%	95.4	1.3%
January 2002	98.2	0.9%	91.5	0.3%	96.2	0.7%
February 2002	98.9	0.8%	93.1	1.7%	97.1	1.0%
March 2002	98.8	-0.1%	93.1	0.1%	97.1	-0.1%
April 2002	99.3	0.4%	93.3	0.1%	97.4	0.4%
May 2002	101.1	1.9%	94.4	1.2%	99.1	1.7%
June 2002	101.4	0.3%	94.4	0.0%	99.3	0.2%
July 2002	103.0	1.6%	94.1	-0.3%	100.3	1.0%
August 2002	102.5	-0.4%	95.3	1.3%	100.3	0.0%
September 2002	102.5	0.0%	93.8	-1.6%	99.9	-0.4%
October 2002	103.5	0.9%	96.3	2.7%	101.3	1.4%
November 2002	103.7	0.2%	96.0	-0.3%	101.4	0.1%
December 2002	104.6	0.9%	97.6	1.7%	102.5	1.1%
January 2003	103.3	-1.3%	96.8	-0.8%	101.3	-1.2%
February 2003	102.1	-1.2%	95.0	-1.9%	99.9	-1.4%
March 2003	103.1	0.9%	93.7	-1.3%	100.2	0.3%
April 2003	103.8	0.8%	91.0	-2.9%	100.0	-0.2%
May 2003	102.5	-1.3%	92.2	1.3%	99.4	-0.6%
June 2003	103.2	0.7%	93.6	1.5%	100.3	0.9%
July 2003	104.0	0.8%	97.2	3.9%	101.9	1.6%
August 2003	103.4	-0.6%	97.1	-0.1%	101.4	-0.5%
September 2003	104.4	1.0%	98.2	1.2%	102.5	1.1%
October 2003	106.1	1.7%	98.3	0.0%	103.8	1.2%
November 2003	105.3	-0.8%	99.8	1.6%	103.6	-0.1%
December 2003	108.1	2.6%	100.5	0.6%	105.8	2.0%
January 2004	106.5	-1.5%	99.2	-1.2%	104.3	-1.4%
February 2004	109.6	3.0%	101.0	1.8%	107.0	2.6%
March 2004	109.8	0.2%	102.1	1.1%	107.5	0.4%
April 2004	110.5	0.7%	102.8	0.7%	108.2	0.7%
May 2004	110.1	-0.4%	102.5	-0.3%	107.8	-0.4%
June 2004	110.4	0.3%	104.2	1.6%	108.5	0.7%
July 2004	110.2	-0.2%	104.3	0.2%	108.4	-0.1%
August 2004	109.7	-0.4%	105.3	0.9%	108.3	-0.1%
September 2004	109.9	0.2%	105.1	-0.2%	108.4	0.1%
October 2004	110.1	0.2%	107.4	2.2%	109.2	0.7%
November 2004	111.4	1.2%	106.4	-0.9%	109.8	0.6%
December 2004	111.0	-0.4%	106.4	-0.1%	109.5	-0.3%
January 2005	112.9	1.7%	107.9	1.4%	111.3	1.6%
February 2005	111.9	-0.9%	107.8	-0.1%	110.6	-0.7%
March 2005	112.0	0.1%	108.3	0.5%	110.8	0.2%
April 2005	111.7	-0.3%	108.3	0.0%	110.5	-0.2%
May 2005	111.7	0.0%	109.2	0.8%	110.8	0.2%
June 2005	111.2	-0.4%	109.3	0.1%	110.4	-0.3%
July 2005	110.7	-0.5%	109.3	0.1%	110.1	-0.3%
August 2005	111.8	1.0%	109.6	0.2%	111.0	0.8%
September 2005	110.4	-1.3%	111.1	1.4%	110.3	-0.6%
October 2005	110.1	-0.3%	109.0	-1.9%	109.5	-0.7%
November 2005	113.1	2.8%	109.8	0.7%	112.0	2.3%
December 2005	111.3	-1.7%	108.8	-0.9%	110.4	-1.5%
January 2006	111.7	0.4%	110.9	1.9%	111.2	0.8%
February 2006	110.2	-1.4%	110.2	-0.6%	109.9	-1.2%
March 2006	110.7	0.4%	111.3	1.0%	110.5	0.6%
April 2006	110.4	-0.3%	111.6	0.3%	110.4	-0.1%
May 2006	113.0	2.4%	112.3	0.6%	112.6	2.0%
June 2006	112.7	-0.3%	111.2	-1.0%	112.1	-0.4%
July 2006	111.7	-0.9%	111.7	0.5%	111.4	-0.6%
August 2006	108.9	-2.5%	111.7	0.0%	109.3	-1.9%
September 2006	109.9	0.9%	112.7	0.9%	110.2	0.9%
October 2006	109.8	-0.1%	113.2	0.4%	110.3	0.1%
November 2006	108.3	-1.4%	113.0	-0.2%	109.1	-1.1%
December 2006	108.9	0.6%	114.2	1.1%	109.8	0.7%
January 2007	108.5	-0.3%	114.0	-0.1%	109.5	-0.3%
February 2007	108.5	0.0%	111.7	-2.0%	109.0	-0.5%
March 2007	109.8	1.1%	114.2	2.2%	110.5	1.4%
April 2007	109.3	-0.4%	114.7	0.5%	110.3	-0.2%
May 2007	109.2	-0.1%	116.5	1.5%	110.6	0.3%
June 2007	108.4	-0.7%	116.2	-0.2%	109.9	-0.6%
July 2007	108.4	0.1%	116.2	-0.1%	109.9	0.0%
August 2007	109.0	0.5%	117.4	1.1%	110.7	0.7%
September 2007	108.0	-0.9%	117.4	-0.1%	109.9	-0.7%
October 2007	109.5	1.4%	116.0	-1.2%	110.7	0.8%
November 2007	110.2	0.7%	115.0	-0.9%	111.0	0.3%
December 2007	108.8	-1.3%	117.1	1.8%	110.5	-0.5%
January 2008	111.5	2.4%	115.5	-1.4%	112.1	1.5%
TSI is updated monthly. The index numbers for the latest three months are considered to be preliminary. BTS releases the preliminary number for the latest month and replaces the number for the oldest preliminary month with a revised number. All other revisions are held until an annual comprehensive revision of the TSI, which will be released as part of the following June TSI release. Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Services Index.

 

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