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The Transportation Services Index’s (TSI) roller-coaster ride during the past few months stopped on a hill in January. The index of 129.7 rose 1.9 percent compared with December — the biggest one-month gain since July 1997 — and increased 7.4 percent compared with January 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The December TSI had fallen 0.2 percent compared with November.

January’s Freight TSI of 130.9 rose 1.9 percent and 7.2 percent compared with December and January 2004, respectively. The index posted its largest year-over-year gain since 1998, BTS said.

Meanwhile, January’s Passenger TSI of 127.4 increased 1.7 percent and 8.0 percent compared with December and January 2004, respectively. The index registered its second-straight monthly increase and largest year-over-year gain since 1997.

During a six-month period ending in January, the TSI, Freight TSI and Passenger TSI rose 2.9 percent, 2.9 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, compared with the previous six-month period.

The TSI is a measure of month-to-month changes in the output of services provided by for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipelines and local transit. The index includes historic data from 1990 to the present; changes are measured against a base year of 1996.