Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The acting administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT supports nearly of state roads and highways, about 25,000 bridges, and new roadway construction with the exception of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Other modes of transportation supervised or supported by PennDOT include aviation, rail traffic, mass transit, intrastate highway shipping traffic, motor vehicle safety and licensing, and driver licensing. PennDOT supports the Ports of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Erie. The department's current budget is approximately $3.8 billion in federal and state funds. The state budget is supported by motor vehicle fuel taxes, which are dedicated solely to transportation-related state expenditures. In recent years, PennDOT has focused on intermodal transportation, which is an attempt to enhance commerce and public transportation. PennDOT employs approximately 11,000 people. PennDOT has extensive traffic cameras set up throughout the state's major cities, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and the state capital of Harrisburg, In Wilkes-Barre, cameras are fed through to a television channel for Service Electric cable customers in the city and its suburbs. Unlike speed cameras, these cameras are primarily installed for ITS purposes, and not for law enforcement. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was created from the former Department of Highways by Act 120, approved by the legislature on May 6, 1970. The intent of the legislation was to consolidate transportation-related functions formerly performed in the Departments of Commerce, Revenue, Community Affairs, Forests and Waters, Military Affairs and other state agencies. PennDOT is responsible for constructing and maintaining a system of roads at the sole expense of the state. It controls more than of roadway.