United States Department of Transportation
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United States Department of Transportation | |
Seal of the Department of Transportation |
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Agency overview | |
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Formed | April 1, 1967 |
Jurisdiction | United States of America |
Headquarters | 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. |
Employees | 58,622 |
Annual budget | $73,248 million USD (FY2010), requested |
Agency executives | Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation John Porcari, Deputy Secretary of Transportation Joan DeBoer, Chief of Staff |
Child agencies | Federal Aviation Administration Federal Highway Administration Federal Railroad Administration Federal Transit Administration Maritime Administration Additional agencies |
Website | |
United States Department of Transportation Website |
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or just DOT) is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966 and began operation on April 1, 1967. It is administered by the United States Secretary of Transportation.
Its mission is to "Serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future."
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[edit] History
Prior to the Department of Transportation, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation administered the functions now associated with the DOT. In 1965, Najeeb Halaby, administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency, suggested to Lyndon Baines Johnson that transportation be elevated to a cabinet-level post, and that the FAA be folded into the DOT.
[edit] Divisions
- 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 Climate Change and Environment
- Office of Inspector General
- Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST)
- Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)
- Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)
- Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC)
- Surface Transportation Board (STB)
[edit] Former divisions
- Transportation Security Administration - transferred to Department of Homeland Security in 2003
- United States Coast Guard - transferred to Department of Homeland Security in 2003
[edit] 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 PL 79-377
- 1950 - Federal Aid to Highway PL 81-769
- 1954 - Saint Lawrence Seaway Act
- 1956 - Federal-Aid to Highway/Interstate Highway Act PL 84-627
- 1957 - Airways Modernization Act PL 85-133
- 1958 - Transportation Act PL 85-625
- 1958 - Federal Aviation Act PL 85-726
- 1959 - Airport Construction Act PL 86-72
- 1964 - Urban Mass Transportation Act PL 88-365
- 1965 - Highway Beautification Act PL 89-285
- 1966 - Department of Transportation established PL 89-670
Uniform Time Act - 1970 - Urban Mass Transportation Act PL 91-453
- 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
- 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
- 2002 - Homeland Security Act (PL 107-296)
- 2005 - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (PL 109-59)
[edit] Budget
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will award $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, New York, and a bus rapid transit system in Springfield, Oregon. The funds will also support a heavy rail project in northern Virginia that will mainly benefit Washington, D.C., connecting the Washington Dulles International Airport to the "Metro" rail system operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority[1]
President Barack Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2010 also includes $1.83 billion in funding for major transit projects, of which more than $600 million will go towards 10 new or expanding transit projects. The proposed budget provides additional funding for all of the projects currently receiving Recovery Act funding, except for the bus rapid transit project. It also continues funding for another 18 transit projects that are either currently under construction or soon will be. [2]
[edit] See also
- Advanced transportation controller
- National Transportation Safety Board
- Passenger vehicles in the United States
- World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations
- United States
[edit] External links
- United States Department of Transportation Official Website.
- United States Department of Transportation - Office of the Historian.
- Proposed and final federal regulations from the Department Of Transportation
- Papers of Louis S. Rothschild (Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation 1955-1958), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
[edit] References
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