BEIJING, Sept. 12 -- An index measuring the vitality of China's transportation sector remained at a high level in August, according to the China Academy of Transportation Sciences.

As the travel demand maintained strong during the summer travel rush in China, the China Transportation Services Index (CTSI) stood at 177.3 points in August, up 5.4 percent year on year.

The index incorporated the transport volume of passenger and cargo of various transportation means such as railway, highway, waterway and civil aviation.

With 2010 as the base year and 100 points as the base points, the CTSI includes passenger transport and cargo transport as two sub-indexes.

The index for passenger transport rose 5.2 percent to 174.5 points in August, while that for cargo transport stood at 178.9, up 5.5 percent.