WASHINGTON ? The US government released reams of free data on Friday on subjects as varied as child car seats and burro populations in an effort to make the workings of government more transparent.

As part of President Barack Obama's "Open Government Directive," the 24 major departments and agencies that make up the federal government had until Friday to release at least three "high-value" data sets.

The raw data released by the various departments and agencies is online and viewable at Data.gov.

It includes, for example, ratings from the Department of Transportation on the ease of use of child safety seats and wild horse and burro populations on land controlled by the Department of the Interior.

Even the Department of Defense is taking part, releasing data on absentee voting by members of the military and a list of requests to the Pentagon under the Freedom of Information Act.

The White House said a total of nearly 300 new sets of data are now online.

"These steps underscore my administration's commitment to creating an unprecedented level of transparency and public participation in government," Obama said in a statement. "Through our open government efforts, we are bringing down the walls between the government and the American people."

"The data can spur innovation," said Aneesh Chopra, Obama's chief technology officer. "Entrepreneurs, corporations, and ordinary Americans can build value on top of this raw material into applications that will improve our quality of life."