An atlas of the physical economy
About
The economy has a geography.
A map of the physical economy
Goods atlas brings U.S. freight networks, trade gateways and producing regions into one interactive map. Roads, railways, waterways and pipelines show the routes between places. Ports and airports show international trade and cargo handling. Farms, factories, mines and energy-producing regions show where material output begins.
The map offers two perspectives: weight and value. Tons reveal the material scale of movement; dollars show the value attached to goods. Switching units makes the contrast visible without reducing every place to a single ranking.
The economy has a geography
We usually encounter the economy through prices, jobs, companies and national statistics. Behind those numbers are fields, mines, factories, terminals and the infrastructure that connects them.
This project started with a desire to see that physical structure: where goods originate, which places move them, and how regions depend on one another. A river carrying bulk materials and an airport handling high-value cargo can be important in different ways. Their roles become clearer when they share a map.
What you can do
- Explore a familiar place and compare it with other freight regions.
- Switch between tons and dollars to see how material scale differs from shipment or trade value.
- Inspect a local network interval, cargo airport, customs port or producing area.
- Follow a number back to its definition, actual source year and coverage in Methods and Data.
This is an exploratory atlas, not a navigation service or live shipment tracker. Its layers measure different activities and should not be added together. The limitations explain what each comparison can support.
How it was built
David built the atlas with AI coding agents. The work combines a data pipeline with an interactive map renderer.
The pipeline acquires public datasets, checks their units and geographic scope, assigns or allocates freight where the source lacks local detail, and aggregates results into map-ready records. The renderer manages zoom-dependent geometry, line widths, labels and click-to-inspect detail. Separate calculations reconcile regional totals, gateway allocations and production estimates against retained source files.
Reported measurements, agency estimates and additional atlas modeling remain distinct. Sources keep their actual vintages rather than being relabeled as a single-year census.
Sources and credits
The atlas draws on public data from FHWA, BTS, USACE, EIA, the Census Bureau, BEA, USGS, USDA NASS, CDFA and MSHA. Their statistics describe different parts of the physical economy; the atlas brings them together without making their measures interchangeable.
Data lists the source releases, publisher links, units and known gaps. Methods documents the transformations and worked reconciliations.
Contact
For more of David’s work, project questions or corrections, visit davidalisk.com. When reporting a data issue, include the place or line, selected unit and the number shown.