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The Transportation Services Index (TSI) got off to a good start in 2011, rising 0.9 percent in January to 109.6 compared with December’s level, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The index also climbed 5.8 percent compared with January 2010’s TSI of 99.4.

January’s Freight TSI of 108.1 increased 0.9 percent on a month-over-month basis and 6.9 percent on a year-over-year basis. A measure of the month-to-month changes in freight ton-miles moved by for-hire rail, trucking, rail, inland waterway, pipeline and air freight firms, the Freight TSI rose 14.6 percent in a 21-month period beginning in May 2009 and ending in January 2011, the BTS said.

January’s Passenger TSI of 113.9 increased 1 percent from December’s level and 3 percent from January 2010’s mark. A measure of the month-to-month changes in the for-hire passenger transportation sector — including intercity rail, local transit and air — the Passenger TSI rose 3.1 percent in the five-year period between January 2006 and January 2011.

In fourth-quarter 2010, the TSI increased 1.3 percent and Freight TSI rose 2.1 percent, both registering their sixth consecutive quarterly increases since second-quarter 2009, according to BTS. The Passenger TSI fell 0.8 percent, the first quarterly tumble since first-quarter 2009.

For more BTS data on all three indices, follow this link.