Department of Transportation

Department of Transportation Type: Executive agency Parent organization: Executive Office of the President Employees: 55000 Executive: Secretary of Transportation Budget: $81.5 billion Address: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590 Website: https://www.transportation.gov Creation Legislation: Department of Transportation Act Wikipedia: Department of Transportation

Department of Transportation [{"name":"Department of Transportation","title":"\u003Ca href=\"\/wiki\/Department_of_Transportation\" title=\"Department of Transportation\"\u003EDepartment of Transportation\u003C\/a\u003E","lat":38.87582,"lon":-77.00285,"otherValues":{"HeadquartersAddress":"1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590"}}] This map created from a Cargo query ()

Mission The mission of the Department of Transportation (DOT) is to ensure a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system that meets vital national interests and enhances the quality of life for the American people, today and into the future. This includes promoting the safety of travel, increasing mobility, fostering economic growth through improved transportation infrastructure, protecting the environment, and ensuring national security.

Services The DOT provides services that include regulating aviation through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), managing highways and traffic safety via the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), overseeing public transit systems through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), managing maritime and coastal activities with the Maritime Administration (MARAD), ensuring safety in rail transportation with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), promoting safe and efficient transportation of hazardous materials, advancing research and innovation in transportation, and administering grants and funding programs for infrastructure projects.

Regulations The DOT oversees a broad range of regulations concerning transportation safety, infrastructure development, and operational standards. This includes aviation safety regulations, motor vehicle safety standards, highway safety laws, railroad safety requirements, pipeline safety, commercial motor vehicle regulations, transit safety, maritime safety and security, accessibility standards for transportation systems, environmental regulations related to transportation projects, and regulations concerning the transportation of hazardous materials across various modes.

"USDOT" redirects here. For U.S. Treasury Department, see United States Department of the Treasury.

United States Department of Transportation
File:United States Department of Transportation seal.svg
Seal of the USDOT
File:Flag of the United States Department of Transportation.svg
Flag of the USDOT
File:USDOT headquarters - Navy Yard.jpg
Headquarters of the U.S. Department of Transportation
Department Overview
Formed	April 1, 1967 (1967-04-01)
Jurisdiction	U.S. federal government
Headquarters	1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, D.C.
Employees	58,622
Annual budget	US$87.6 billion (FY2021, enacted)
Department Executives	Pete Buttigieg, Secretary Polly Trottenberg, Deputy Secretary
Child agencies	FAA FHWA FRA FTA Maritime Administration Additional agencies
Website
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File:Seal of the United States Department of Transportation (1980).svg

The seal of the U.S. Department of Transportation before 1980

File:Flag of the U.S. Department of Transportation (1967–1980).png

The flag of the U.S. Department of Transportation before 1980

The Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.

The department's fiscal year 2022–2026 strategic plan states that its mission is "to deliver the world's leading transportation system, serving the American people and economy through the safe, efficient, sustainable, and equitable movement of people and goods."

History

In 1965, Najeeb Halaby, the chief of the independent Federal Aviation Agency strongly urged President Lyndon Johnson to set up a cabinet-level Department of Transportation. Halaby proposed merging the responsibilities of the undersecretary of commerce for transportation and the Federal Aviation Agency to achieve this goal. While the federal government was granted authority over aviation and railroads through the commerce clause of the Constitution, the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration primarily provided funding for state and local projects, without significant influence over road construction and operation. Halaby emphasized the need for improved coordination and expressed frustration at the lack of an overall plan. "One looks in vain", he told Johnson, "for a point of responsibility below the President capable of taking an evenhanded, comprehensive, authoritarian approach to the development of transportation policies or even able to assure reasonable coordination and balance among the various transportation programs of the government." Johnson convinced Congress to act and The Department of Transportation was authorized in October 1966 and launched on 1 April 1967, with a mission to ensure that federal funds were effectively used to support the national transportation program. Johnson proclaimed upon signing the act: "Transportation has truly emerged as a significant part of our national life. As a basic force in our society, its progress must be accelerated so that the quality of our life can be improved."

Agencies

• Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure (ARPA-I)
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
• Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
• Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
• Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS)
• Maritime Administration (MARAD)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
• Office of Inspector General (OIG)
• Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST)
• Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)
• Research and Innovative Technology Administration，which includes the agencies below, among others：
• John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
• Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)

Former agencies

• Transportation Security Administration – transferred to Department of Homeland Security in 2003
• United States Coast Guard – transferred to Department of Homeland Security in 2003
• Surface Transportation Board (STB) – spun off as an independent federal agency in 2015

Budget

In 2012, the DOT awarded $742.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to 11 transit projects. The awardees include light rail projects. Other projects include both a commuter rail extension and a subway project in New York City, and a bus rapid transit system in Springfield, Oregon. The funds subsidize a heavy rail project in northern Virginia, completing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's Metro Silver Line to connect Washington, D.C., and the Washington Dulles International Airport (DOT had previously agreed to subsidize the Silver Line construction to Reston, Virginia).

President Barack Obama's budget request for 2010 also included $1.83 billion in funding for major transit projects. More than $600 million went towards ten new or expanding transit projects. The budget provided additional funding for all of the projects currently receiving Recovery Act funding, except for the bus rapid transit project. It also continued funding for another 18 transit projects that are either currently under construction or soon will be. Following the same, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 delegated $600 million for Infrastructure Investments, referred to as Discretionary Grants.

The Department of Transportation was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2016 of $75.1 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows:

Agency / Office	Funding (in millions)	Employees (FTE)
Federal Aviation Administration	$16,280.7	45,988
Federal Highway Administration	$43,049.7	2,782
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration	$580.4	1,175
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration	$869.0	639
Federal Transit Administration	$11,782.6	585
Federal Railroad Administration	$1,699.2	934
Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration	$249.6	575
Maritime Administration	$399.3	835
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation	$28.4	144
Office of the Secretary	$935.4	1,284
Office of the Inspector General	$87.5	413
TOTAL	$75,536.1	55,739

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The $1.2 trillion act included over $660 billion in funding for transportation-related infrastructure projects over the five-year period of fiscal years 2022–2026.

Related legislation

• 1806 – Cumberland Road
• 1862 – Pacific Railway Act
• 1887 – Interstate Commerce Act
• 1916 – Adamson Railway Labor Act
• 1935 – Motor Carrier Act
• 1946 – Federal Airport Act, Pub. L. 79–377, 60 Stat. 170
• 1950 – Federal Aid to Highway, Pub. L. 81–769, 64 Stat. 785
• 1954 – Saint Lawrence Seaway Act
• 1956 – Federal-Aid to Highway/Interstate Highway Act, Pub. L. 84–627, 70 Stat. 374
• 1957 – Airways Modernization Act, Pub. L. 85–133, 71 Stat. 349
• 1958 – Transportation Act of 1958, Pub. L. 85–625, 72 Stat. 568
• 1958 – Federal Aviation Act, Pub. L. 85–726, 72 Stat. 731
• 1959 – Airport Construction Act, Pub. L. 86–72, 73 Stat. 155
• 1964 – Urban Mass Transportation Act, Pub. L. 88–365
• 1965 – Highway Beautification Act, Pub. L. 89–285, 79 Stat. 1028
• 1966 – Department of Transportation established, Pub. L. 89–670, 80 Stat. 931
• 1970 – Urban Mass Transportation Act, Pub. L. 91–453, 84 Stat. 962
• 1970 – Rail Passenger Service Act PL 91-518
• 1970 – Airport and Airway Development Act PL 91-258
• 1973 – Federal Aid Highway Act PL 93-87
• 1973 – Amtrak Improvement Act PL 93-146
• 1973 – Federal Aid Highway Act PL 93-87
• 1974 – National Mass Transportation Assistance Act PL 93-503
• 1976 – Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act PL 94-210
• 1976 – Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act PL 94-435
• 1978 – Airline Deregulation Act PL 95-504
• 1980 – Motor Carrier Act PL 96-296
• 1980 – Staggers Rail Act PL 96-448
• 1982 – Transportation Assistance Act PL 97-424
• 1982 – Bus Regulatory Reform Act PL 97-261
• 1984 – Commercial Space Launch Act PL 98-575
• 1987 – Surface Transportation Act PL 100-17
• 1991 – Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act PL 102-240
• 1998 – Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century PL 105-178
• 2000 – Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century PL 106-181
• 2001 – Aviation and Transportation Security Act (PL 107-71)
• 2002 – Homeland Security Act (PL 107-296)
• 2005 – Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (PL 109-59)
• 2012 – Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) PL 112-141
• 2015 – Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) PL 114-94
• 2021 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act PL 117-58

Freedom of Information Act processing performance

In the latest Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act FOIA requests, published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the Department of Transportation earned a D by scoring 65 out of a possible 100 points, i.e., did not earn a satisfactory overall grade.

See also

• American Highway Users Alliance
• National Highway System (United States)
• National Transportation Safety Board
• Passenger vehicles in the United States
• Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Transportation in the United States
• Transportation policy of the United States
• Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
• United States Federal Maritime Commission
• United States Secretary of Transportation

External links

• Department of Transportation on USAspending.gov
• United States Department of Transportation in the Federal Register