Description
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is a federal Cabinet department of the U.S. government concerned with transportation. It was established by the Department of Transportation Act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967. The secretary of transportation is the head of DOT.
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 Department of Transportation, the functions now associated with the DOT were administered by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. In 1965, Najeeb Halaby, administrator of the Federal Aviation Agency – the future Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – suggested to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that transportation be elevated to a cabinet-level post, and that the FAA be folded into the DOT. The idea of having a federal department of transportation was first proposed by former President Woodrow Wilson in 1921–22.
