The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating

highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

, bridges, and other modes of

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 ...

, including ferries in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

History

The North Carolina Department of Transportation was formed in 1915 as the State Highway Commission. In 1941 the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) was formed under the NCDoT by an act of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...

. The Executive Organization Act of 1971 combined the state highway commission and the DMV to form the NC Department of Transportation and Highway Safety. In 1979 "Highway Safety" was dropped when the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) was transferred to the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

Board of Transportation

The board governs the department and is the decision-making body. Fourteen board members are appointed by the governor, one each from one of the fourteen divisions, and six others appointed by the NC House Speaker and NC Senate Pro-Tempore, representing specific functions of the department that meet once a month.

Divisions of the NCDOT

Division of Motor Vehicles

The Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is a division of the NCDOT, some things the division does is, provide motor services like issuing licenses and permits, promote highway safety, giving accurate information about road conditions, enforcing motor vehicle laws, and keeping hold of official DMV records.

Division of Highways

The Division of Highways is responsible for building and maintaining the second largest state maintained highway system in the nation, incorporating over of highways, and 18,540 bridges collectively spanning .

Division of Aviation

The Division of Aviation's mission is to maintain the North Carolina air transportation system development and improve aviation safety and education.

Division of Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation

The Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation (DBPT) is a division for Bicycles and pedestrian traffic. Some notable things the division does is designing facilities, creating safety programs, mapping cross-state bicycle routes, training teachers, sponsoring workshops and conferences, fostering multi-modal planning or integrating bicycling and walking into other projects by the Department of Transportation. Created in 1974 as a result of North Carolina bicycle program legislation and expanded to encompass pedestrian activities in 1992 as a result of federal legislation, the DBPT is the oldest comprehensive state program of its kind in the United States.

Ferry Division

The Ferry Division is responsible for providing ferry services to public. The Ferry Division operates eight routes connecting mainland North Carolina with various outer banks and islands along the coast of North Carolina.

Public Transportation Division

The NCDOT Public Transportation Division helps North Carolina public transit systems move people. The division does not operate buses, trains or vans directlythese services are operated by local transit systemsbut help maintain these public transit systems. The first division director was David C. Robinson, 1974–1979. He was succeeded by David King, then Sanford Cross, Miriam Perry, and Denese Lavandere (the current director, appointed in 2012.)Retrieved on November 12, 2007.

Rail Division

The Rail Division is responsible for operation of six

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. ...

trains within North Carolina under the

NC By Train NC By Train is a brand name used by the Rail Division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for two state-supported Amtrak routes operating in the U. S. state of North Carolina–the '' Carolinian'' and the '' Piedmont.'' His ...

brand and works with the North Carolina Railroad Company, a state owned railroad that carries both freight and passenger rail service. The route is long and runs from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

to one of the state ports at

Morehead City, NC Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. H ...

. The route passes through the cities of Charlotte, Salisbury, Lexington, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Raleigh, Goldsboro and on to Morehead City. The North Carolina Railroad trackage is currently leased to

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

. A small portion between Raleigh and Cary is co-operated with Norfolk Southern by CSX Transportation. The state operates no freight trains and all freight is handled by either CSX or Norfolk Southern. However, the division does own the rolling stock used on the ''Piedmont'' under the reporting mark RNCX.

References

External links

NCDOT Official Site

NCDOT Rail Division Official Site

NCDOT Division of Motor Vehicles Official Site

NCDOT Ferry Division Official Site

NCDOT Division of Aviation Official Site

Publications (historic and current) from NCDOT
{{Authority control

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 ...

Organizations based in Raleigh, North Carolina Transportation in North Carolina State departments of transportation of the United States Motor vehicle registration agencies Government agencies established in 1979 1979 establishments in North Carolina