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."
Prior to the Department of Transportation, the under secretary of commerce for transportation. 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.
Divisions
New headquarters building for the U.S. Department of Transportation, which opened in Spring 2007 in Southeast Washington, near the Washington Navy Yard and the new Nationals Ballpark