README for “DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present” dataset. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor] 2025-06-09 ---------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS TO DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1403467 B. NTAD catalog dataset link (Current Year): https://doi.org/10.21949/1522210 ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- The DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present dataset is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’s (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). This dataset depicts NHTSA's Regional Operations and Program Delivery Office regional boundaries. It identifies which states and territories are associated with each region. NHTSA's regions help States use data to identify their highway safety challenges, evaluate safety programs and activities, and provide technical assistance to State program managers to support the implementation of impactful behavioral highway safety programs. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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: DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present [datasets] F. Update Log ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Title of Dataset: DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present [dataset] 1. Description of Dataset: The DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present dataset is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). This dataset depicts NHTSA's Regional Operations and Program Delivery Office regional boundaries. It identifies which states and territories are associated with each region. NHTSA's regions help States use data to identify their highway safety challenges, evaluate safety programs and activities, and provide technical assistance to State program managers to support the implementation of impactful behavioral highway safety programs. 2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1403467 3. Authorship Information: Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Contact: amy.schick@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 as needed. This dataset is updated as needed. 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/10.21949/1522210 5. Geographic location of data collection: United States of America 6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ---------------------------------------------------------------- B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Recommended citation for the data: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor]. DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present [datasets]. 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: These data are in the Public Domain. 2. Was data derived from another source?: No. 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 DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present dataset A. Filename: bts_NTAD_NHTSA_Regions_DMP_20250609.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_NHTSA_Regions_README_20250609.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 DOT_NHTSA_Regions_NTAD2023_Present.zip collection. Ca. File List for NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_DOT_NHTSA_Regions_XXXX_XX_XX.zip collection Ca 1. Filename: NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_DOT_NHTSA_Regions_XXXX_XX_XX.gdb.zip (Folder) Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions 2023-Present dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year or date respectively. Geodatabase (GDB) folders contain all the necessary components to view and otherwise interact with their data. Ca 2. Filename: NHTSA_Offices.xml and NHTSA_Regions.xml Short description: Extensible Markup Language (XML) files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, etc. Ca 3. Filename: NHTSA_Offices.xlsx and NHTSA_Regions.xlsx Short description: Excel spreadsheet containing the dataset's data dictionary including attribute field names and definitions for fields and applicable values. ---------------------------------------------------------------- D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: The USDOT region layer for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was created by the Bureau and Transportation Statistics (BTS), then approved by a member of NHTSA. BTS had several meetings with NHTSA personnel to help understand where the NHTSA regions are and which areas it should encompass, mostly adhering to regions of NHTSA found on their website https://www.nhtsa.gov/about-nhtsa. As a result, Esri’s ArcPro 3.0.2 was utilized in creating polygons, using the U.S. Census state 2020 TIGER/Line shapefile to designate the NHTSA regional boundaries and dissolving states to represent one cohesive entity/region. To populate the attributes, BTS communicated with NHTSA to understand the address and contact information for each region. Various fields were then added to the database schema using the “add field” function and then fill out appropriately by BTS with NHTSA’s guidance and ultimate approval. 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: File geodatabase data can only be opened with Esri ArcGIS. The documentation files can be opened with any basic text editor. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. DOT Regions - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regions data table Due to the size of the data, it is not described in detail here. Review the data dictionary present in the data folders for information on the data table. A. Number of variables (columns): The data dictionary found in NHTSA_Regions.txt or NHTSA_Regions.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 NHTSA_Offices.xlsx or NHTSA_Regions.xlsx for names, definitions, and formats of variables. C. Missing data codes: None ---------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPDATE LOG ---------------------------------------------------------------- This bts_NHTSA_Regions_20250609_README.txt file was originally created on 2025-05-28 by Dominic Menegus, Geographer, dominic.menegus@dot.gov [Note changes or update to the readme.txt file, e.g.:] 2025-06-09: Original file created 2025-12-03: DOI added