The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is a governmental agency of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

responsible for planning, building and maintaining the state's highways. It is also responsible for planning transportation in the state relating to rail, including passenger rail, public transit, freight water transport and air transport, including partial funding of the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

-to-

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Hiawatha Service The ''Hiawatha Service'', or simply ''Hiawatha'', is an 86-mile (138 km) train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, the name was historically applied to ...

provided by

Amtrak 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. ...

.Connections 2030: Wisconsin's long-range transportation plan
/ref> The Wisconsin DOT is made up of three executive offices and five divisions organized according to transportation function. WisDOT's main office is located at Hill Farms State Transportation Building in Madison, and it maintains regional offices throughout the state.

History

In 1905 the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

introduced an amendment to the state constitution that would allow the state to fund construction and improvement of roads. It was approved by voters in 1908. On June 14, 1911 governor

Francis McGovern Francis Edward McGovern (January 21, 1866 – May 16, 1946) was an American lawyer and politician from Wisconsin. He served as the 22nd Governor of Wisconsin from 1911 to 1915. In 1911 especially he sponsored a major series of progressive achiev ...

signed legislation that created the State Highway Commission. Its members met for the first time three days later. The commission originally consisted of five part-time members and nine permanent employees. Its duties included reviewing proposed highway projects and regulating the construction and inspection of highways and bridges. In 1912, the commission started the Wisconsin Road School. This brought together numerous road professionals to develop construction and maintenance

best practices A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

. A highway fund was created in 1925 by charging a tax on fuel of two cents per gallon. The commission received $15.2 million over the next

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

. The commission was reorganized in 1929, changing it to three full-time members. Over the 1930s and 40s, the responsibilities of the commission continued to expand. By 1940 it had 500 employees. In 1967 the Highway Commission was merged with the Wisconsin Aeronautics Commission, Department of Motor Vehicles, and the

Wisconsin State Patrol The Wisconsin State Patrol is the state patrol for the state of Wisconsin and is a division of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The Wisconsin State Patrol enforces traffic and criminal laws, oversees the motor carrier safety and weight ...

to form the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Structure

The department is led by the executive offices. This level is composed of the Office of Public Affairs, the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Policy, Finance, and Improvement as well as the positions of secretary deputy secretary, and assistant deputy secretary. Below this are five divisions.

Division of Business management

The DBM does the general business work for the department. It contains the department's

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...

services and information technology support. Its tasks include: *Fiscal managing of the department's projects *Managing of facilities and equipment *Centralized purchasing *Risk mitigation and employee safety services *Maintaining records and forms *Supporting communication

Division of Motor Vehicles

The DMV provides services to drivers. It has 90 locations throughout the state. Its tasks include: *Educating and testing drivers *Issuing driver's licenses *Issuing license plates *Registering vehicle

titles A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

*Maintaining records of vehicle related transactions *Providing vehicle emission testing

Division of Transportation Investment Management

The DTIM serves a wide variety of functions. It contains the Aeronautics Bureau. It also works with planning projects and assisting in

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

. Its tasks include: *Educating pilots *Regulating tall structures *Providing technical assistance to airports *Collecting and analyzing data *Developing multi-year highway plans *Assisting local government in construction and maintenance of roads

Division of Transportation System Development

The DTSD is responsible for constructing, maintaining, and operating the state's highways. It is divided into statewide bureaus and five regional offices that serve different parts of the state. Its task include: *Planning and constructing projects *Protecting public interests *Monitoring quality and efficiency of programs *Collaborating with local governments

Division of State Patrol

The DSP administers the

. Its tasks include: *Enforcing laws *Assisting drivers *Inspecting vehicles such as trucks, buses, and

ambulances An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

*Operating weighing facilities *Training law enforcement officers *Assisting local law enforcement agencies *Educating the public

Funding

The department uses the state's Transportation Fund, which is separate from the General Fund. Money in this fund can only be used for transportation purposes. A majority of revenue, about 56%, is provided by the state. This is raised mainly through the gas tax and vehicle registration fees. Another 24% comes federal funding. The remaining revenue comes from bonds and other funds. In the state's 2015-2017 budget, the Department received a total of $6.82 billion. This consisted of $3,852.6 million from the gas tax and fees, $1,655 million from federal funds, $910.7 million from bonds, $229.9 million of general purpose revenue, and $227.9 million from other funds.

Initiatives

The department runs a Transportation Reading Challenge to use transportation as a theme to encourage kids to read. The challenge allows kids ten and under to participate by reading stories that contain various types of transportation. They must record the books on a reading challenge ticket which is then sent to the Office of Public Affairs to win prizes.

References

External links

Official website

Community Maps - Wisconsin County TSC Crash Mapping
{{authority control Department of Transportation State departments of transportation of the United States Motor vehicle registration agencies

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 ...

Government agencies established in 1967