NICAR offers numerous helpful transportation datasets to generate story ideas, add depth and authority to daily stories, and to develop enterprise stories.

Prices are based on the size of your news organization. Journalism professors and students fall into the smallest category.

More information about these datasets, including sample slices and record layouts, is available at www.ire.org/datalibrary/datasets

Air

FAA Enforcements: Actions against airlines, pilots, mechanics and their designees, including all types of planes. Data are available from 1962 through August 2000 for $25, $50 or $75, depending on circulation or market size of your news organization.

FAA Service Difficulty Reports: Contains information on mechanical difficulties collected by the FAA for the purpose of tracking repair problems with commercial, private and military aircraft and aircraft components. Reporting is voluntary, so the database is considered incomplete. Data is available from 1974 through December 2000 for $65, $130 or $155.

FAA Accidents and Incidents: Contains information mainly about U.S. flights where there was an accident or an incident, such as crashes, collisions, deaths, injuries, major mechanical problems or costly damage. Data is available from 1973 through about April 2000. Cost for the most recent data, 1990 through 2000 is $40, $80 or $105.

FAA Aircraft Registry: Contains a listing of all aircraft and aircraft owners registered in the United States. This dataset also includes tables on registered aircraft dealers and individuals or companies that reserved the N-number for their plane. The registration table in this dataset can be used to identify the registered owner of an aircraft by searching on the registration number (commonly called the N-number). NICAR updates its data every three months. The most current version, February 2001, is available for a one-time purchase for $25, $50 or $70 or an annual subscription, which includes four updates, for $50, $100 or $125.

FAA Airmen Directory: A listing of pilots and other airmen, including the type of certificate(s) they hold and their ratings. As a result of a new law that allows airmen to have their information withheld from the public, this listing is incomplete. This data, current as of October 2000, includes about 65 percent of the total. NICAR updates its data every six months. The most current, November 2000, is available for $30, $60 or $80.

NASA Air Safety Reporting System: Anonymous reports of airplane safety submitted by pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers and passengers. Anyone is eligible to file an ASRA report, and pilots appear to be the most frequent filers. Reports might include month, year and day of the week, but it will not include the exact date. Data is available from 1988 through 1999 for $65, $130 or $155.

NTSB Investigations of Aircraft Accidents: Contains information on civil aviation accidents and incidents, including pilot, crew and airplane descriptions and environment conditions within the U.S. its territories and in international waters. Data is available from 1984 through October 2000 for $75, $150 and $175.

Roads

DOT Fatality Analysis Reporting System: A good tool to analyze the number of fatal accidents on a specific roadway, in your state or in the nation. FARS is a nationwide database of fatal road-vehicle accidents, truck and trailer accidents are included. The data files cover 1975, when the DOT first began tracking fatal accidents, through 1999. It is available from NICAR for the entire U.S., most recent year at $40, $80 or $105. A file containing 1994-1999 data merged together by NICAR is available for $45, $90 or $115. Earlier years are also available separately.

NHTSA Vehicle Recalls and Complaints: A database of vehicle complaints, recalls, service bulletins and inspections. This data is available for the entire U.S., all years and costs for $40, $80 or $105.

DOT Truck Accidents: A database of accidents on U.S. roads involving a commercial vehicle weighing more than 10,000 pounds, including semi-tractor trailers, buses and hazardous material carriers. This data is available for the entire U.S., all years or by each state, all years and costs $90, $180 or $205 for the entire U.S. or $30, $60 or $85 for one state.

Truck Census: This U.S. Department of Transportation database contains records on each company that has commercial interstate vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds. The data is available for the entire U.S. for $95, $190 or $215 or for one state for $30, $60 or $85.

Hazardous Materials Incident Report Subsystem: The database contains the incident reports of unintentional releases of hazardous materials for all modes of transportation (air, highway, railway, water). Among other things, the data allows reporters to determine which hazardous material carriers are having the most accidents and in which states. Chemicals most often released and exact accident details are also recorded. The report number column has unique case numbers, making it possible to join different databases for more in-depth investigations. NICAR has this data from 1971 through May 2000. This data is available for the entire U.S., all years, for $50, $100 or $125.

Waterways

Boating Accidents: The database contains information on recreational boating accidents in the United States. The data is available for the entire U.S., all years for $25, $50 or $75.

Boat Registration: The database contains information on registered recreational and commercial boats.