The United States Department of Transportation is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It was established by Congress in the Department of Transportation Act on October 15, 1966.
5-1-1 is a transportation and traffic information telephone hotline in some regions of the United States and Canada. Travelers can dial 511, a three-digit telephone number, on landlines and most mobile phones. The number has also extended to be the default name of many state and provincial transportation department road conditions Web sites, such as Wisconsin's site. It is an example of an N11 code, part of the North American Numbering Plan.
The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) in Bryan/College Station, Texas is a transportation research agency in the United States. The institute was created in 1950, primarily in response to the needs of the Texas Highway Department. TTI is a state agency and a member of the Texas A&M University System.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" related to transportation safety in the United States.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program. Its role had previously been performed by the Office of Road Inquiry, Office of Public Roads and the Bureau of Public Roads.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), part of the United States Department of Transportation, is a government office that compiles, analyzes, and publishes information on the nation's transportation systems across various modes; and strives to improve the DOT's statistical programs through research and the development of guidelines for data collection and analysis. BTS is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administrations within the DOT. Headed by an Administrator who is appointed by the President of the United States, the FTA functions through Washington, D.C headquarters office and ten regional offices which assist transit agencies in all states, the District of Columbia, and the territories. Until 1991, it was known as the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA).
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.
Vehicular communication systems are computer networks in which vehicles and roadside units are the communicating nodes, providing each other with information, such as safety warnings and traffic information. They can be effective in avoiding accidents and traffic congestion. Both types of nodes are dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) devices. DSRC works in 5.9 GHz band with bandwidth of 75 MHz and approximate range of 300 metres (980 ft). Vehicular communications is usually developed as a part of intelligent transportation systems (ITS).
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking industry in the United States. The primary mission of the FMCSA is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.
Vehicle infrastructure integration (VII) is an initiative fostering research and applications development for a series of technologies directly linking road vehicles to their physical surroundings, first and foremost in order to improve road safety. The technology draws on several disciplines, including transport engineering, electrical engineering, automotive engineering, and computer science. VII specifically covers road transport although similar technologies are in place or under development for other modes of transport. Planes, for example, use ground-based beacons for automated guidance, allowing the autopilot to fly the plane without human intervention. In highway engineering, improving the safety of a roadway can enhance overall efficiency. VII targets improvements in both safety and efficiency.
Raymond P. Martinez was a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Transportation and the former Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. From 2010 to 2018, Martinez served as the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Chair and Chief Administrator in the Cabinet of Governor Chris Christie. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Protocol for the United States Department of State and as New York State Commissioner of Motor Vehiclesin the Cabinet of Governor George Pataki.
Nitin Pradhan was the Departmental Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the US Department of Transportation (DOT) as part of the Obama Administration from July 6, 2009 to August 31, 2012. After leaving US DOT, Pradhan established and led the nation's first Federal Technology Accelerator and Partner Consortium called Public Private Innovations and later cofounded GOVonomy, an emerging products technology marketplace for the public sector as well as ScaleUP USA, a Digital Business Growth Accelerator.
The National Transportation Library (NTL) maintains and facilitates access to information necessary for transportation decision-making in government and coordinates with public and private transportation libraries and information providers to improve information sharing among the transportation community. It is currently under the administration of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
Peter H. Appel was the administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). From 2009 to 2011 Appel was the Obama Administration point person on transportation technology issues and research. He left RITA in late 2011 for the private sector to work on emerging technologies in the transportation industry.
The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute is a national University Transportation Center headquartered at the University of Minnesota. The ITS Institute researches activities to enhance the safety and mobility of road-based and transit-based transportation, particularly in a northern climate and in rural environments. The ITS Institute focuses on human-centered technology, such as computing, sensing, communications, and control systems.
People who are driving as part of their work duties are an important road user category. First, workers themselves are at risk of road traffic injury. Contributing factors include fatigue and long work hours, delivery pressures, distractions from mobile phones and other devices, lack of training to operate the assigned vehicle, vehicle defects, use of prescription and non-prescription medications, medical conditions, and poor journey planning. Death, disability, or injury of a family wage earner due to road traffic injury, in addition to causing emotional pain and suffering, creates economic hardship for the injured worker and family members that may persist well beyond the event itself.
Pedestrian crash avoidance mitigation (PCAM) systems, also known as pedestrian protection or detection systems, use computer and artificial intelligence technology to recognize pedestrians and bicycles in an automobile's path to take action for safety. PCAM systems are often part of a pre-collision system available in several high end car manufacturers, such as Volvo and Mercedes and Lexus, and used less widely in lower end cars such as Ford and Nissan. As of 2018 using 2016 data, more than 6,000 pedestrians and 800 cyclists are killed every year in the US in car crashes. Effective systems deployed widely could save up to 50% of these lives. More than 270,000 pedestrians are killed every year in the world. An excellent analysis of technology capabilities and limitations is provided in Death of Elaine Herzberg. Pedestrian safety has traditionally taken a secondary role to passenger safety.
Robert Cornelius Hampshire is an American academic and engineer currently serving as Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Research and Technology in the United States Department of Transportation.
