The United States 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 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 w ...

, who reports directly to the President of the United States 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 * Filing ...

. 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, administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency (predecessor to the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA), suggested to President Lyndon B. Johnson that transportation be elevated to a cabinet-level post, and that the FAA be folded into the DOT. It was established by Congress 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 in 1921–22.

Agencies

* Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) * Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) * Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) * Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) * Federal Transit Administration (FTA) * 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) * Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) *

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center or simply Volpe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a center of transportation and logistics expertise, operating under the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). The Volpe C ...

* 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 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 Intersta ...

(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 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 Interconti ...

project in New York City, 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. 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 accelerati ...

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 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 movem ...

.) 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: In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 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 The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of l ...

* 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 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 PL 91-518 * 1970 – Airport and Airway Development Act PL 91-258 * 1973 –

Federal Aid Highway Act The following bills and Acts of Congress in the United States have been known as the Federal-Aid Highway Act or similar names: *Federal Aid Road Act of 1916: July 11, 1916, ch. 241, (first) *Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act): November ...

PL 93-87 * 1973 –

Amtrak Improvement 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 93-146 * 1973 –

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 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 The Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 was a comprehensive transportation funding and policy act of the United States Federal Government, . The legislation was championed by the Reagan administration to address concerns about the surface ...

PL 97-424 * 1982 – Bus Regulatory Reform Act PL 97-261 * 1984 –

Commercial Space Launch Act Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 is a United States federal law authored to facilitate the private enterprise of the commercialization of space and space technology. The Act of Congress set forth the quest to acquire innovative equipment and s ...

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 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 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 (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.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 feder ...

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