The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the

U.S. federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a f ...

. It is headed by the

secretary of transportation A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

, who reports directly to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

and is a member of the president's

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. The department's mission is "to develop and coordinate policies that will provide an efficient and economical national transportation system, with due regard for need, the environment, and the national defense."

History

Prior to the creation of the Department of Transportation, its functions were administered by the under secretary of commerce for transportation. In 1965,

Najeeb Halaby Najeeb Elias "Jeeb" Halaby Jr. ( ar, نجيب إلياس حلبي; November 19, 1915 – July 2, 2003) was an American businessman, government official, aviator, and the father of Queen Noor of Jordan. He is known for making the first transcon ...

, administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (predecessor to the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

, FAA), suggested to President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

that transportation be elevated to a cabinet-level post, and that the FAA be folded into the DOT. It was established by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in the Department of Transportation Act on October 15, 1966. The department began operation on April 1, 1967. The idea of having a federal department of transportation was first proposed by former President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

in 1921–22.

Agencies

(FAA) *

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

(FHWA) *

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking industry in the United States. The primary mission of the FMCSA is to reduce crashes, injuries and ...

(FMCSA) *

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail sa ...

(FRA) *

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administratio ...

(FTA) *

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...

(MARAD) *

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" relat ...

(NHTSA) * Office of Inspector General (OIG) * Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) *

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound opera ...

(PHMSA) *

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation that operates and maintains the U.S.-owned and operated facilities of the joint United States-Canadian St. Lawrence ...

(SLSDC) * John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center *

Bureau of Transportation Statistics The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), part of the United States Department of Transportation, is a government office that compiles, analyzes, and publishes information on the nation's transportation systems across various modes; and str ...

(BTS)

Former agencies

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

– transferred to

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

in 2003 *

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

– transferred to Department of Homeland Security in 2003 *

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Interstat ...

(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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

to 11 transit projects. The awardees include light rail projects. Other projects include both a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

extension and a

subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...

project in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and a

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

system in

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...

. The funds

subsidize A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerat ...

project in

northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

, completing the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States C ...

's Metro Silver Line to connect Washington, D.C., and the

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and F ...

. (DOT had previously agreed to subsidize the Silver Line construction to

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City move ...

.) President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

'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: In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and originally in the House as the INVEST in America ActH.R. 3684, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress ...

. The $1.2 trillion act included over $250 billion in funding for transportation-related infrastructure projects.

Related legislation

* 1806 – Cumberland Road * 1862 – Pacific Railway Act * 1887 – Interstate Commerce Act * 1916 –

Adamson Railway Labor Act Adamson may refer to: * Adamson (surname), list of people * ''Adamson'', taxonomic author abbreviation for British botanist Robert Stephen Adamson (1885–1965) * Adamson (automobile), an English automobile model * ''Adamson'' (comic strip) or ...

* 1935 – Motor Carrier Act * 1946 – Federal Airport Act, * 1950 – Federal Aid to Highway, * 1954 –

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Ameri ...

Act * 1956 – Federal-Aid to Highway/Interstate Highway Act, * 1957 – Airways Modernization Act, * 1958 – Transportation Act of 1958, * 1958 – Federal Aviation Act, * 1959 – Airport Construction Act, * 1964 – Urban Mass Transportation Act, * 1965 – Highway Beautification Act, * 1966 – Department of Transportation established, * 1970 – Urban Mass Transportation Act, * 1970 –

Rail Passenger Service Act The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

PL 91-518 * 1970 –

Airport and Airway Development Act The Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 ( Pub.L. 91-258) was a United States federal law passed during the 91st Congress, and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in conjunction with the Airport and Airway Revenue Act on May 21, 1970. ...

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 The National Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1974 is a United States federal law that extended the Urban Mass Transportation Act to cover operating costs as well as construction costs. This act was the culmination of a major lobbying effort b ...

PL 93-503 * 1976 –

Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, often called the "4R Act," is a United States federal law that established the basic outlines of regulatory reform in the railroad industry and provided transitional operating funds fo ...

PL 94-210 * 1976 – Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act PL 94-435 * 1978 –

Airline Deregulation Act The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Boa ...

PL 95-504 * 1980 – Motor Carrier Act PL 96-296 * 1980 –

Staggers Rail Act The Staggers Rail Act of 1980 is a United States federal law that deregulated the American railroad industry to a significant extent, and it replaced the regulatory structure that had existed since the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. Backgroun ...

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 The Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 (Pub. L. 100–17, 101 Stat. 132) is a United States Act of Congress, containing in Title I, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1987. History The bill was introduced in House b ...

PL 100-17 * 1991 –

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...

PL 102-240 * 1998 –

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century The United States federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) is a federal transportation bill enacted June 9, 1998, as and . TEA-21 authorized federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit ...

PL 105-178 * 2000 –

Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century The Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century is a United States federal law, signed on 5 April 2000, seeking to improve airline safety. It is popularly called "AIR 21," and is also known as Public Law 106-181. Ba ...

PL 106-181 * 2001 –

Aviation and Transportation Security Act The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA, November 19, 2001) was enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Act created the Transportation Security Administration ...

(PL 107-71) * 2002 –

Homeland Security Act The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, () was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of ...

(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 The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) is a funding and authorization bill to govern United States federal surface transportation spending. It was passed by Congress on June 29, 2012, and President Barack Obama signed it o ...

(MAP-21) PL 112-141 * 2015 –

Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act or the FAST Act is a funding and authorization bill to govern United States federal surface transportation spending. It was passed by Congress on December 3, 2015, and President Barack Obama signed ...

(FAST Act) PL 114-94 * 2021 -

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 Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian 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.Making the Grade: Access to Information Scorecard 2015
. March 2015, p. 80, Center for Effective Government. Retrieved March 21, 2016.

References

External links

*
Department of Transportation
on USAspending.gov
United States Department of Transportation
in the

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on fede ...

{{navboxes , list = {{United States Department of Transportation {{United States federal executive departments {{Lyndon B. Johnson, state=collapsed {{Authority control {{Portal bar, United States {{Include-USGov-DOT Transportation government agencies of the United States Government agencies established in 1966

Transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

1966 establishments in Washington, D.C.