§ 329 — Transportation Information

(a) The Secretary of Transportation may collect and collate transportation information the Secretary decides will contribute to the improvement of the transportation system of the United States. To the greatest practical extent, the Secretary shall use information available from departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States Government and other sources. To the extent practical, the Secretary shall make available to other Government departments, agencies, and instrumentalities and to the public the information collected under this subsection. (b) The Secretary shall— (1) collect and disseminate information on civil aeronautics (other than that collected and disseminated by the National Transportation Safety Board under chapter 11 of this title) including, at a minimum, information on (A) the origin and destination of passengers in interstate air transportation (as that term is used in part A of subtitle VII of this title), and (B) the number of passengers traveling by air between any two points in interstate air transportation; except that, if the Secretary requires air carriers to provide flight-specific information, the Secretary— (A) shall not disseminate fare information for a specific flight to the general public for a period of at least 9 months following the date of the flight; and (B) shall give due consideration to and address confidentiality concerns of carriers, including competitive implications, in any rulemaking prior to adoption of a rule requiring the dissemination to the general public of any flight-specific fare; (2) study the possibilities of developing air commerce and the aeronautical industry; and (3) exchange information on civil aeronautics with governments of foreign countries through appropriate departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government. (1) On the written request of a person, a State, territory, or possession of the United States, or a political subdivision of a State, territory, or possession, the Secretary may— (A) make special statistical studies on foreign and domestic transportation; (B) make special studies on other matters related to duties and powers of the Secretary; (C) prepare, from records of the Department of Transportation, special statistical compilations; and (D) provide transcripts of studies, tables, and other records of the Department. (2) The person or governmental authority requesting information under paragraph (1) of this subsection must pay the actual cost of preparing the information. Payments shall be deposited in the Treasury in an account that the Secretary shall administer. The Secretary may use amounts in the account for the ordinary expenses incidental to getting and providing the information. (d) To assist in carrying out duties and powers under part A of subtitle VII of this title, the Secretary of Transportation shall maintain separate cooperative agreements with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the timely exchange of information on their programs, policies, and requirements directly related to carrying out that part. (1) The Secretary of Transportation shall publish data on incidents and complaints involving passenger and baggage security screening in a manner comparable to other consumer complaint and incident data. (2) To assist in the publication of data under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Transportation may request the Secretary of Homeland Security to periodically report on the number of complaints about security screening received by the Secretary of Homeland Security.