THE U.S. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM: AN OVERVIEW

This report is an update of the description of the U.S. transportation system provided in MITRE's 1975 publication "Transportation in the U.S.: An Appraisal." It takes into account the relevant events of the past five years, incorporates knowledge based on the actual effects of recent policy decisions and identifies new issues that have arisen. Chapter I provides an update of the statistics that illustrate the size and complexity of the U.S. transportation system, its relationship to the national economy, and its appetite for fuel. The federal role in transportation is described in Chapter II. Of particular significance in Chapter II is the federal regulation of and possible investment in the automobile industry. Chapter III is devoted entirely to the automobile. Chapter IV presents the many complex issues concerning urban transportation. The issues dominating intercity surface passenger transportation are presented in Chapter V. Chapter VI is devoted to a discussion of the air transportation system. The detailed discussion of the effects to date of the airline and air cargo deregulation measures presented in Chapter VI serves as the basis for a similarly detailed discussion in Chapter VII of the current rail and truck regulatory reform proposals.