May 6, 2005 4:00 PM, EDT

DOT's Transportation, Freight Indices Fall

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he Department of Transportation said Friday its transportation services index fell 1% February from the previous month.

The decline to 128.4 followed a gain of 2.4% in January to 129.2, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported.

The TSI for freight dropped 1.4% to 129.5.

Both the overall and freight indices were 4.5% higher than February 2004, BTS said in its monthly report.

The TSI for passengers fell 1.3% to 126.1, following two months of increases.

TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly index measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit.

It includes data dating back to 1990, with changes measured against the base year of 1996. DOT said the index is still under development and is considered experimental.