Data

The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 requires Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), to develop a plan that outlines how data is made accessible and usable to the public. The goal of the law is to promote transparency, facilitate evidence-building, and foster innovation by making government data open and accessible. Read the DOT Open Data Plan.

Visit the Data Portal at https://data.transportation.gov.

The Chief Data Officer and Data Governance

The Chief Data Officer (CDO), as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3520, was established to provide strategy, governance, project management support, and orchestrate shared data services across the Department.  The DOT Data Governance Working Group is led by the CDO with collaboration from and participation from each Operating Administration and the Office of the Chief Information Office, the Statistical Official, Evaluation Officer, Privacy Officer, FOIA Officer, and Records Management Officer. The Data Governance Working Group spearheads simple, seamless, and secure data management through iterative learning and peer exchange. 

Geospatial Management Office

The Geospatial Management Office (GMO) is part of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and includes DOT’s Chief Geospatial Information Officer (GIO), Deputy GIO, and GIS Shared Service which hosts geospatial data and applications from multiple Operating Administrations.  The GIS Strategic Plan will be updated in 2025. For more information on DOT’s geospatial data, visit the Bureau of Transportation Statistics or transportation.gov/gis. 

The Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer

Artificial intelligence (AI) thrives on data, which acts as the crucial resource enabling it to learn and make informed decisions. However, this powerful capability is fundamentally shaped by people, who are indispensable in preparing the data, defining AI's objectives, and ensuring its responsible application. Information on DOT AI activities can be found at transportation.gov/AI. 

Information Quality Guidelines 

Information Quality Guidelines, a result of the Information Quality Act provides procedural guidance for federal agencies, ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of all disseminated information, including statistical data. The Guidelines also create a mechanism for the public to seek and obtain, where appropriate, correction of information disseminated by the DOT. 

For more information, or to submit a request for correction, see www.transportation.gov/dot-information-dissemination-quality-guidelines.

Suggest New Datasets

We welcome your feedback if you have questions about a specific dataset or would like to see something added to existing data sets. Here are points of contact within each Operating Administration (OA).

FAA: 9-EIM-InfoLink@faa.gov
FHWA: Highway-Data@dot.gov
FMCSA: FMCSA.CDO@dot.gov
FRA: fra.dapr@dot.gov or List-FRA-SAFETEAM@dot.gov
FTA: ntdhelp@dot.gov 
NHTSA: NHTSA-Datahub@dot.gov 
MARAD: data.marad@dot.gov 
PHMSA: PHMSA-Datahub@dot.gov or PHMSACIODataStewardTeam@dot.gov
OST: opendata@dot.gov 

Key Senior Evidence and Data Officials

Chief Data Officer: Daniel Morgan daniel.morgan@dot.gov

Evaluation Officer: VACANT

Statistical Official: Rolf Schmitt rolf.schmitt@dot.gov. Read more about Rolf Schmitt.