Transportation policy of the United States
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Transportation in the United States Transportation in the United States is facilitated by road, air, rail, and waterways. The vast majority of passenger travel occurs by automobile for shorter distances, and airplane (or railroad, in some regions) for longer distances. In desc ...
is governed by laws and regulations of the federal government. The Department of Transportation is responsible for carrying out federal transportation policy, and the
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
is responsible for security in transportation.


Policy development

The
Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
of the United States Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce, and this power was upheld by the Supreme Court in ''
Gibbons v. Ogden ''Gibbons v. Ogden'', 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 1 (1824), was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce, which was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United Sta ...
''. Transportation regulations are created by agencies within the Department of Transportation, and the department is responsible for carrying out federal transportation policy. The mission statement of the Department of Transportation is "to deliver the world’s leading transportation system, serving the American people and economy through the safe, efficient, sustainable, and equitable movement of people and goods." Congress is also authorized to establish
post roads A post road is a road designated for the transportation of postal mail. In past centuries, only major towns had a post house and the roads used by post riders or mail coaches to carry mail among them were particularly important ones or, due ...
as part of the
Postal Clause Article One of the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution, known as the Postal Clause or the Postal Power, empowers United States Congress, Congress "To establish Post Offices and post Roads." T ...
. Federal transportation policy is codified under Title 49 of the United States Code and
Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
. The need for federal transportation policy arose as the United States spread westward in the 19th century. The
National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...
was funded by the federal government in 1806 to connect the East Coast and the Midwest. The
General Survey Act The General Survey Act was a law passed by the United States Congress in April 1824, which authorized the president to have surveys made of routes for transport roads and canals "of national importance, in a commercial or military point of view, or ...
of 1824 authorized surveys to plan transportation routes that were considered to be of national importance. The Department of Transportation was established in 1967. The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975 tasked the Department of Transportation with regulating the transport of hazardous materials. Transportation policy was heavily deregulated in the 1970s and 1980s. Transportation planning was reformed by the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA, pronounced ''Ice-Tea'') is a United States federal law that posed a major change to transportation planning and policy, as the first U.S. federal legislation on the subject in ...
of 1991. The
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
and the
2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...
prompted significant changes to transportation security policy in the 2000s. The
Aviation and Transportation Security Act The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA, November 19, 2001) was enacted by the 107th United States Congress in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Act created the Transportation Security Administration ...
created the
Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
(TSA), which took over responsibilities for airport security from private companies. The Department of Homeland Security was created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and this department took control of the TSA, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...
, among other agencies.


Aviation policy

Air transportation in the United States is overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for airports,
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
, and aviation safety regulations. Regulations vary depending on the type of aircraft, with aircraft of different sizes and purposes subject to different regulations. Other relevant organizations to aviation policy include the Transportation Security Administration, which is responsible for security in airports, and NASA, which is responsible for aviation research. Airports in the United States are typically publicly owned with operations contracted to private companies, though airports may be privatized under the Airport Investment Partnership Program of 1997. Foreign air carriers are required to comply with the
International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
and to establish an aviation security agreement with the United States before operating in American airspace. The first federal aviation agency was created in 1915, when the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...
(NACA) was established to conduct aeronautical research. The
Air Commerce Act The Air Commerce Act of 1926 created an Aeronautic Branch of the United States Department of Commerce. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft and investigation of accidents. In 1934, the Aeronautics Bran ...
of 1926 established the Aeronautic Branch within the Department of Commerce to regulate aviation, and the branch was reformed into the
Bureau of Air Commerce The Air Commerce Act of 1926 created an Aeronautic Branch of the United States Department of Commerce. Its functions included testing and licensing of pilots, certification of aircraft and investigation of accidents. In 1934, the Aeronautics Bran ...
in 1934. In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act replaced the Bureau of Air Commerce with the
Civil Aeronautics Authority The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1938 and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services including scheduled passenger airline serviceStringer, David H."Non-Skeds: T ...
, granting the new agency regulatory powers over airline fares and routes. Two years later, the Civil Aeronautics Authority was split into the Civil Aeronautics Administration, which regulated
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
, and the
Civil Aeronautics Board The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1938 and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services including scheduled passenger airline serviceStringer, David H."Non-Skeds: T ...
, which regulated
aviation safety Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of airc ...
. The
Federal Aviation Act of 1958 The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was an act of the United States Congress, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that created the Federal Aviation Agency (later the Federal Aviation Administration or the FAA) and abolished its predecessor, t ...
replaced the Civil Aeronautics Authority with the Federal Aviation Agency, which would later be named the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
. NACA was also replaced at this time, with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
being established to expand aeronautic research to cover space travel research. The National Transportation Safety Board was established in 1967 to take over the accident investigation powers of the Civil Aeronautics Board. The
Airline Deregulation Act The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Boa ...
of 1978 relinquished federal control over airline fares and routes and abolished the Civil Aeronautics Board.


Maritime policy

Water transport in the United States is overseen by the
Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...
, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, and the Federal Maritime Commission. The
United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...
is a fleet of civilian and federal owned ships that transports goods in American waters and serves as an auxiliary to the Navy. Federal courts have jurisdiction over maritime law. The
United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...
was created in 1916. The
Merchant Marine Act of 1920 The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 is a United States federal statute that provides for the promotion and maintenance of the American merchant marine. Among other purposes, the law regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports ...
regulates maritime commerce and restricts
cabotage Cabotage () is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. It originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well. Cabotage rights ar ...
. The Shipping Board was abolished in 1934 and replaced by the
United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...
in 1936. The Maritime Commission was replaced by the Maritime Administration in 1950.


Rail policy

Rail transportation in the United States Rail transportation in the United States consists primarily of freight shipments, with a well integrated network of standard gauge private freight railroads extending into Canada and Mexico. Passenger service is mainly mass transit and commute ...
is overseen by the
Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
.
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 ...
is a government-owned corporation responsible for intercity rail. Several
Pacific Railroad Acts The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of a "transcontinental railroad" (the Pacific Railroad) in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of ...
were passed in the 1860s to encourage the development of a
transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
, and the first transcontinental railroad was constructed to connect the eastern railroad networks to the West Coast in 1869. Throughout the 19th century, railroads were privately owned, resulting in natural monopolies and
price fixing Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...
, particularly among shorter routes. Congress responded by passing the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, the first law to create a federal regulatory body for a specific industry. The Interstate Commerce Act applied several regulations to railroad prices and established the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The powers of the ICC were expanded by laws such as the Elkins Act of 1903, the Hepburn Act of 1906, the
Mann–Elkins Act The Mann–Elkins Act, also called the Railway Rate Act of 1910, was a United States federal law that strengthened the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) over railroad rates. The law also expanded the ICC's jurisdiction to incl ...
of 1910, and the Valuation Act of 1913. The Railroad Safety Appliance Act of 1893 was passed as an early regulation of rail safety. Congress funded high-speed rail with the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965. The 4R Act of 1976 and the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 deregulated railroads as part of an overhaul of American transportation policy. The ICC was replaced with the Surface Transportation Board in 1995.


Road policy

Driving in the United States Driving in the United States is a frequent occurrence. 86percent of Americans use private automobiles as their primary form of transportation to their workplace. Each state has the authority to set its own traffic laws and issue driving licen ...
is overseen by the
Federal Highway Administration 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 ...
. The federal government is responsible for the interstate highways, while most other roads are maintained by local and state governments. Road safety is a major concern in American transportation policy. About 95% of transportation-related deaths occur on streets, roads, and highways. Road safety policy is overseen by the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 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 f ...
and the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) 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" rel ...
. The United States is also a party to the
Geneva Convention on Road Traffic The Convention on Road Traffic, commonly known as the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, is an international treaty promoting the development and safety of international road traffic by establishing certain uniform rules among the contracting pa ...
. In 1905, the Office of Public Roads was established by merging the Division of Tests and the Office of Public Road Inquiries. 10% of the excess funds produced by the Forest Service were appropriated for the production of federal roads serving national forests. Its name was changed to the Bureau of Public Roads in 1919. The
Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 (also known as the Bankhead–Shackleford Act and Good Roads Act), , , was enacted on July 11, 1916, and was the first federal highway funding legislation in the United States. The rise of the automobile at the star ...
was the first law to fund federal highways, and several Federal-Aid Highway Acts were passed through the 20th century to build on this law. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944 authorized the construction of interstate highways, and the federal government set standards with input from state administrations. Upon entering the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
military readiness became a concern and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1952 increased funding for the highways to this end. President Eisenhower was a strong advocate for a national highway system, and his administration successfully pushed for further expansion in the Federal-Aid Highway Acts of 1954 and
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...
. The
National Maximum Speed Law The National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) was a provision of the federal government of the United States 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act that effectively prohibited speed limits higher than . It was drafted in response to oil price ...
was enacted in 1974 and would not be repealed until 1995. The
Motor Carrier Act of 1980 The Motor Carrier Regulatory Reform and Modernization Act, more commonly known as the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (MCA) is a United States federal law which deregulated the trucking industry. Background Motor carrier deregulation was a part of a s ...
deregulated trucking. The Highway Beautification Act establishes regulations for the environments surrounding federal highways. Interstate Highway standards are regulated by the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United ...
.
Road signs Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduce ...
are standardized by the Federal Highway Administration in the ''
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices The ''Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways'' (usually referred to as the ''Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices'', abbreviated MUTCD) is a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the Unit ...
''. The
Highway Trust Fund The Highway Trust Fund is a transportation fund in the United States which receives money from a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel and related excise taxes. It currently has two account ...
is used to finance federal road maintenance.
Odometer fraud Odometer fraud, also referred to as "busting miles" (United States) or "clocking" (UK, Ireland and Canada), is the illegal practice of rolling back odometers to make it appear that vehicles have lower mileage than they actually do. Odometer fraud ...
is a federal crime under the Federal Odometer Act.


See also

* Space policy of the United States * Timeline of United States railway history *
Transportation safety in the United States Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including automobile crashes, airplane crashes, rail crashes, and other mass transit incidents, although the most fatalities are generated ...


References

{{United States policy United States federal policy Transportation in the United States Transportation planning