README for “Travel Time to Work 2021-Present” dataset. U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor] 2025-05-29 ---------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS TO DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1530070 B. NTAD catalog dataset link (Current Year): https://doi.org/10.21949/1527990 ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Travel Time to Work 2021-Present dataset is from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics's (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The Travel Time to Work table from the American Community Survey (ACS) (5-year estimates) was joined by tract-level shapefiles for all 50 States, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico provided by the Census Bureau. A new file was created that combines the demographic variables from the former with the cartographic boundaries of the latter. The demographic variables contain count estimates for travel time to work within certain travel time bands, by Census tract, the shapefile allows these values to be visualized on a map. Travel time bands were condensed in order to have fewer variables. Percentage values for the count estimates were calculated and added, with workers 16 years and over who did not work at home as the denominator. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. General Information B. Sharing/Access & Policies Information C. Data and Related File Overview D. Methodological Information E. Data-Specific Information for: Travel Time to Work 2021-Present [datasets] F. Update Log ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Title of Dataset: Travel Time to Work 2021-Present [dataset] 1. Description of Dataset: The Travel Time to Work 2021-Present dataset is from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The Travel Time to Work table from the American Community Survey (ACS) (5-year estimates) was joined by tract-level shapefiles for all 50 States, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico provided by the Census Bureau. A new file was created that combines the demographic variables from the former with the cartographic boundaries of the latter. The demographic variables contain count estimates for travel time to work within certain travel time bands, by Census tract, the shapefile allows these values to be visualized on a map. Travel time bands were condensed in order to have fewer variables. Percentage values for the count estimates were calculated and added, with workers 16 years and over who did not work at home as the denominator. 2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1530070 3. Authorship Information: Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Contact: bts@dot.gov Data Distributor Contact Information Name: National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Office of Spatial Analysis and Visualization (OSAV) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Email: ntad@dot.gov 4. Date of data collection and update interval: This dataset is updated annually. 5. Geographic location of data collection: United States of America 6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Department of Transportation (DOT) ---------------------------------------------------------------- B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Recommended citation for the data: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Travel Time to Work 2021-Present [datasets]. https://doi.org/10.21949/1530070 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: These data are in the Public Domain. 2. Was data derived from another source?: Yes. 3. This document was created to meet the requirements enumerated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 'Plan to Increase Public Access to the Results of Federally-Funded Scientific Research' Version 1.1 << https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559 >> and guidelines suggested by the DOT Public Access website << https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647 >>, in effect and current as of December 03, 2020. ---------------------------------------------------------------- C. DATA & RELATED FILE OVERVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. File List for the Travel Time to Work 2021-Present dataset. A. Filename: bts_NTAD_Travel_Time_to_Work_DMP_20250529.pdf Short description: A PDF file containing the Data Management Plan that was created for current and future management of the data and associated files. B. Filename: bts_NTAD_Travel_Time_to_Work_README_20250529.txt Short description: The README.txt file that includes human-readable information about the data, variable definitions, contact information, and other contextual information. The file you are reading now. C. File List for the Travel_Time_to_Work_NTAD2021_Present.zip collection Ca. Filename: NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Travel_Time_to_Work_XXXX_XX_XX.gdb.zip Short description: A file geodatabase containing the geospatial data for Travel Time to Work 2021-Present dataset. Geodatabase (GDB) folders contain all the necessary components to view and otherwise interact with their data. Files are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage date respectively. Cb. File List for the NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Travel_Time_to_Work_XXXX_XX_XX.zip collection Cb 1. Filename: NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_Travel_Time_to_Work_XXXX_XX_XX.gdb.zip Short description: A file geodatabase containing the geospatial data for Travel Time to Work 2021-Present dataset. Geodatabase (GDB) folders contain all the necessary components to view and otherwise interact with their data. Files are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage date respectively. Cb 2. Filename: Travel_Time_to_Work.xml Short description: Text files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, etc. Cb 3. Filename: Time Travel to Work.xlsx or Travel_Time_to_Work.xlsx Short description: Excel spreadsheet containing the dataset's data dictionary. ---------------------------------------------------------------- D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: The demographic data was downloaded from data.census.gov (table B08303) - ACS 5-year estimates from 2023. These were joined to the 2020 Census Tracts from the 2023 TIGER/Line National Sub-State Geography Geodatabase file for the entire US (excluding the island geometries - State FPs 60, 66, 69, and 78) using a Python script to join the GEOIDs correctly. 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: The data and documentation files can be opened with Esri ArcMap and any GIS software package. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Travel Time to Work data table This dataset is updated annually. Dataset Manager is contacted to verify changes to data resulting in NTAD update. The metadata is updated in the same manner. For the most recent data, please visit the NTAD catalog at https://doi.org/10.21949/1527990 A. Number of variables (columns): The data dictionary found in Travel_Time_to_Work.xlsx provides definitions for the variables B. Data Dictionary/Variable List: Because of the large number of variables, please refer to the Data Dictionary found within the file Travel_Time_to_Work.xlsx for names, definitions, and formats of variables. C. Missing data codes: None ---------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPDATE LOG ---------------------------------------------------------------- This bts_Travel_Time_to_Work_20250529_README.txt file was originally created on 2023-12-21 by Dominic Menegus, Geographer, dominic.menegus@dot.gov [Note changes or update to the readme.txt file, e.g.:] 2023-12-21: Original file created 2024-02-05: Reviewed, Editied, DOI added 2025-05-29: File revision, including dataset descriptions and file organization