National Transit Map - United States: Methodology Report

Abstract

The National Transit Map - United States describes the availability and performance of transit services in each of the 497 U.S. Census-defined urbanized areas (UZAs) using 2013 data from the U.S. National Transit Database (NTD). Three types of transit availability and performance indicators are visualized in the map: (1) Presence of various transit modes in each UZA; (2) Amount of transit facilities in each UZA (both in total and by mode), including number of transit vehicles operated at maximum service, number of transit stations, and transitway mileage; (3) Annual performance of transit services in each UZA (both in total and by mode), including annual fare revenue earned, annual vehicle revenue miles, and annual unlinked passenger trips. Available online at gti.umn.edu, the map makes NTD data more accessible to researcher communities and the public. People interested in knowing mode-specific transit service availability and performance can explore the map in various ways to examine geographic patterns.