2011 APTA Public Transportation Fact Book
"The Public Transportation Fact Book (formerly the
Transit Fact Book) was first published in 1943.
Available data are expanded by standard statistical
methods to estimate U.S. national totals. All data are
for the U.S. only, except for the section on Canada.
Data for Canada were provided by the Canadian
Urban Transit Association (CUTA).
This book includes only public transportation data and
excludes taxicab, unregulated jitney, school,
sightseeing, intercity, charter, and military services,
and services not available to the general public, or
segments of the general public (e.g., governmental
and corporate shuttles), and special application
systems (e.g., amusement parks, airports, and the
following types of ferry service: international, rural,
rural interstate, and urban park).
Data are based on the annual National Transit
Database (NTD) report published by the U.S. Federal
Transit Administration (FTA). APTA supplements
these data with special surveys. Where applicable,
data are calculated based on 2000 U.S. Census
Bureau urbanized area population categories.
Because data are reported to the NTD based on
transit agency fiscal years rather than calendar years,
data listed for a particular year are necessarily
extrapolations of the sum of data reported for all fiscal
years ending in a particular calendar year. All
Canadian data are based on calendar years.
Public Transportation Fact Book data differ from
national total data reported in the NTD in two ways:
(1) Fact Book data are expanded to include all
United States public transportation, while totals
reported in the NTD are limited to summation of those
systems reporting data in the NTD. Systems not
currently included in NTD totals are small transit
operators given waivers from NTD reporting
requirements, some private operators not contracting
with public agencies, and some operators who
choose not to participate in the NTD. Data from rural
operators in the NTD is limited. (2) The Fact Book
reports some data collected by APTA surveys and not
taken from the NTD. Any such data are noted on
tables in this book."