The United States Department of Transportation is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It was established by the Department of Transportation Act of Congress on October 15,1966,and began operation on April 1,1967. It is headed by the Secretary of Transportation,who reports directly to the President of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.
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.
Rodney Earl Slater is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the United States Secretary of Transportation under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. Prior to being appointed to the Clinton Cabinet,Slater served as the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration from 1993 to 1997.
Pontis is a software application developed to assist in managing highway bridges and other structures. Known as AASHTOWare Bridge Management since version 5.2,Pontis stores bridge inspection and inventory data based on the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) National Bridge Inventory system coding guidelines. In addition,the system stores condition data for each of a bridge's structural elements.
The United States federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) is a federal transportation bill enacted June 9,1998,as Pub.L. 105–178 (text)(PDF) and 112 Stat. 107. TEA-21 authorized federal surface transportation programs for highways,highway safety,and transit for a 6-year period from 1998 to 2003. Congress could not agree on funding levels,the Act,which had continued past 2003 by means of temporary extensions,was allowed to lapse.
The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) is a unit of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). It was created in 2005 to advance transportation science,technology,and analysis,as well as improve the coordination of transportation research within the department and throughout the transportation community.
Annual average daily traffic,abbreviated AADT,is a measure used primarily in transportation planning,transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally,it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided by 365 days. AADT is a simple,but useful,measurement of how busy the road is.
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.
In the United States,highway beautification is the subject of the Highway Beautification Act (HBA),passed in the Senate on September 16,1965 and in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 8,1965,and signed by the President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 22,1965. This created "23 USC 131" or Section 131 of Title 23,United States Code (1965),commonly referred to as "Title I of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965,as Amended",and nicknamed "Lady Bird's Bill." It was the pet project of the First Lady,Lady Bird Johnson,who believed that beauty,and generally clean streets,would make the U.S. a better place to live.
The United States federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. The federal tax was last raised October 1,1993 and is not indexed to inflation,which increased 77% from 1993 until 2020. On average,as of April 2019,state and local taxes and fees add 34.24 cents to gasoline and 35.89 cents to diesel,for a total US volume-weighted average fuel tax of 52.64 cents per gallon for gas and 60.29 cents per gallon for diesel.
Victor Mendez is the former Deputy Secretary of Transportation from 2014 to 2017 and was previously sworn in on July 24,2009,as Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),the 18th person to hold this position.
Urban freight distribution is the system and process by which goods are collected,transported,and distributed within urban environments. The urban freight system can include seaports,airports,manufacturing facilities,and warehouse/distribution centers that are connected by a network of railroads,rail yards,pipelines,highways,and roadways that enable goods to get to their destinations.
The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) is a U.S. federal government program run through the United States Department of Transportation to provides credit assistance for qualified regional and national surface transportation projects in the United States. Projects include highways,city passenger railways,some freight rail,intermodal freight transfer facilities,and some port terminal projects.
J. Richard "Rick" Capka was sworn in as the 16th Federal Highway Administrator on May 31,2006 and served until he resigned on January 24,2008. Previously,Capka had been appointed the Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in August 2002 and was the Acting Administrator since August 2005. In those capacities,he helped to prepare the Bush administration's proposed transportation reauthorization legislation;to shape the management of highway mega-projects and;to develop national programs and initiatives to relieve congestion. He was also the first U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) official to deploy to Iraq (2003) and led the highly successful federal response to the tragic 2007 collapse of the I-35 W Bridge in Minneapolis,MN.
Thomas D. Larson was an American administrator,who was sworn in as the Federal Highway Administrator on August 10,1989. A native of Pennsylvania,Larson came to the FHWA after a career as a researcher,Professor of Civil Engineering,and administrator at the Pennsylvania State University. He was Pennsylvania's Secretary of Transportation for eight years,and a leader in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Transportation Research Board.
Robert E. Farris was sworn in as Federal Highway Administrator on June 8 1988,after serving as the FHWA's Deputy Federal Highway Administrator from August 1986.
John S. Hassell Jr. was an American civil engineer. He became Associate Administrator for Planning in 1977,Deputy Federal Highway Administrator in 1978,and Administrator on July 11,1980. Prior to his federal career,Hassell served the public as an engineer and planner for the Georgia Department of Transportation. He also had a bachelor's and master's degree in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Rex Marion Whitton was an American administrator. He retired as Federal Highway Administrator on December 30,1966,after a career of public service that spanned nearly the entire history of modern highway construction in the United States. At his retirement,he had completed more than 46 years of continuous highway work,40 of which were spent in his native Missouri.
Francis V. du Pont was a member of the famous Du Pont family of DuPont Chemical,based in Wilmington,Delaware,and an official connected with the development of public roads and highways in the United States.
Paul Trombino III is an American engineer and government official. He served as director of the Iowa Department of Transportation from 2011 to 2016. Trombino was nominated by President Donald Trump to become Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),but withdrew in December 2017.
