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In This Section

Creation of Department of Transportation - Summary

FAA and the Department of Transportation Act

Prior to the creation of the Department of Transportation, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation administered the functions now associated with the DOT. Although many realize the creation of the new Department was a legislative priority...

Origins of the Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation represents the combination of organizations in existence at the time of enactment of the DOT stature on August 15, 1966. 

This document summarizes the origins the various organizations, agencies and offices of DOT and the paths by which it became...

Historic Documents

Creating the Department of Transportation

Below, interested readers will find a trove of documents that tell the Department's origin story. From the 1965 letter written by Najeeb Halaby, administrator of the then-independent Federal Aviation Agency proposing a new Cabinet Agency...