Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
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| Pennsylvania Department of Transportation | |
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| Logo of PennDOT | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | July 1, 1970 |
| Preceding agencies | Department of Highways Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Traffic Safety Mass Transit Division Aeronautics Commission Department of Revenue (oversaw licensing, registration and inspection of motor vehicles) |
| Jurisdiction | State government of Pennsylvania |
| Headquarters | 8th Floor, Keystone Building, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 40°15′59″N 76°53′1″W / 40.26639°N 76.88361°W |
| Employees | ~12,000 |
| Agency executive | Allen D. Biehler, Secretary of Transportation |
| Website | |
| www.dot.state.pa.us | |
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Allen D. Biehler, P.E. Presently, PennDOT supports over 40,500 miles (65,200 km) of state roads and highways, about 25,000 bridges, as well as new roadway construction, the exception being the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, although they currently follow PennDOT policies and procedures.[citation needed] In addition, other modes of transportation are supervised or supported by PennDOT. These include aviation, rail traffic, mass transit, intrastate highway shipping traffic, motor vehicle safety & licensing, and driver licensing. PennDOT also supports the Ports of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Erie. The current budget is approximately $3.8 billion in federal and state funds. The state budget is supported by the motor vehicle fuels tax which is dedicated solely to transportation issues.
In recent years, PennDOT has focused on intermodal transportation. This is a broad attempt to enhance both commerce and public transportation.
PennDOT employs approximately 11,000 people.
PennDOT uses "LWS's" or Little White Signs as a means of marking the state-owned highways. The top number, which reads "SR xxxx" is the official registered name of the highway. Underneath, there is a larger font number, usually in multiples of 10, which is used to mark the highway in increments. More specifically, they are spaced every half-mile. To calculate the distance, simply divide the number by 20. For example, a sign reading a 240 means it is at mile 12. The numbers start either from the south or west of the county or state line or beginning of the highway. The numbering assignments for the highways follow a simple pattern. Every county is divided into quadrants. Highways that begin in the northeast quadrant are SR 1xxx, SR 2xxx in the southeast, SR 3xxx in the southwest, and finally SR 4xxx in the northwest. For example, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is divided east-west by PA 501, PA 272, and US 222. It is divided north-south by PA 462 and PA 340.
Pennsylvania also uses a keystone-shaped shield to identify major state-owned traffic routes.
PennDOT has extensive traffic cameras set up throughout various parts of major cities in the state, such as Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Allentown (Lehigh Valley), and Luzerne County. The latter's cameras are actually fed through to a television channel for Service Electric cable customers in Wilkes-Barre. These cameras are primarily installed for ITS purposes, not for law enforcement (as opposed to speed cameras).
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[edit] History
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.
It is the responsibility of the department to construct and maintain a system of roads at the sole expense of the state. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is responsible for more than 41,000 miles (66,000 km) of roadway. Townships control approximately 51,376 miles (82,682 km) of roads and streets; boroughs, 9,460 miles (15,220 km) and cities 6,779 miles (10,910 km). In all, there are more than 118,226 miles (190,266 km) of public roads, streets and toll roads in the Commonwealth.
Greatest growth in the state highway system occurred in 1931 when 20,156 miles (32,438 km) of rural roads were taken over by the Commonwealth. At that time, the Department of Highways, at the direction of Governor Gifford Pinchot, embarked upon an extensive program of paving rural roadways, well known as the "get the farmer out of the mud" program.
The Federal Government in 1916 instituted grants to the states for highway construction. These grants continue today and now comprise the key element in determining the size of the state's roadbuilding programs.
State payments to local communities for road maintenance also have continued to expand so that they average approximately $170 million annually.
Today only a handful of states adopted decentralization. This privatization and decentralization of motor vehicle offices eventually led up to over 1700 full service DMV offices statewide (aka; Full Agents, Messengers, and Online Messengers).
Penn DOT offers the public, "four" basic types of Penn DOT licensed Motor Vehicle Offices, each with incrementally increasing authorities (aka. ""Card Agents”, “Full Agents", "Messenger's" ,and "Online Messengers")again all called Auto Tags Agency's. Auto Tags Agency's account for the approval, processing, and issuance of over 90% "tags" license plates on PA roads today.
Basic Authorities
1) Card Agents: are granted the authority to submit properly completed DMV forms (Titles, Registrations, Replacement/Duplicate/Renewal "Driver "Licenses, Titles, Registrations, Restorations and all other BMV and BDL products) for Penn DOT approval and issuance!
2) Full Agents are granted the authority to issue license Plates with 90 day temporary Registrations (instantly), plus #1.
3) Messengers: are granted the authority transport, all Motor Vehicle work to and from Penn DOT(remarkably reducing turnaround time on almost all DMV products), plus #1 and #2
4) Messengers participating in OLRS: are granted the authority to issue License Plates and Titles with the "actual Registration card" (no more temps),Secure Liens, issue Replacement/Duplicates of almost all DMV products, and Renewals Instantly, plus #1, #2 and,#3 Special note: more services are being granted by Penn DOT to Messengers participating in OLRS as demand increases by the public, and secure software is written by providers approved by Penn DOT.
5) Online Messengers: are granted the authority to issue Renewal/Duplicate Driver License, Registration and Restorations (same as Bureau of driver License offices now or in the near future), Instantly plus #1, #2, #3, but not necessarily #4
State statutes under PA Code: Titles 67 and 75 among others, give Penn DOT complete control over every aspect of Motor Vehicles, including the revolutionary system of decentralized offices, including but no way limited to the validity of every tag and title issued.
Penn Dot oversees over 11 million vehicles, 9038 PA dealers, 1744 Full Agents, 3167 Card Agents with a population of over 12 million people. This is only a small percentage of Penn DOT's job function.
One of the most confusing issues in PA; is that PA DMV Offices are called the “Auto Tag Agency”, due to the dentralization or privatization in Pennsylvania. Offices must be located only in PA and up to 2009 could only be found under the heading “License Services”
A controversal issue arose in July 2000 when a software company,engaged,in processing PA Title and Registration tranactions,(similarly to a PennDOT licensed "Auto Tag Agent") but operates outside the state of Pennsylvania,the company continues to operate electronically, directly through out of state dealers. The issue is still in debate. (2009)
[edit] Districts
Administratively PennDOT is divided into engineering districts to localize engineering and maintenance. The following is a table of the districts and their associated headquarters. The statewide headquarters for PennDOT is located in the Keystone Building in Harrisburg.
[edit] Criticism
PennDOT, like most government bureaucrats, has gotten its share of criticisms over the years. The biggest controversy has been the quality of the roads in the Commonwealth, as Pennsylvania consistently has the worst or second-worst (to Louisiana) ranked roads in the United States . Among the reasons:
- The rather long period of time used for construction, which in most cases has caused delays.
- Accusations that cheap material is used, which explains why roads need in repair again so soon after construction.
- Ignoring needed repairs or putting in temporary fixes such as simply filling in potholes.
However, there are supporting arguments as to the roadway conditions being terrible in Pennsylvania that are not entirely at fault of PennDOT, including:
- The weather the state receives, due to its location in the Northeastern United States, results in more wear and tear on roads than in other parts of the nation.
- The rugged terrain in the Poconos and Western Pennsylvania.
- The fragmentation of Pennsylvania's various transportation departments prior to the 1970s that led to the consolidation of most of them to form PennDOT, the lone exception being the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which remains a separate entity today.
- Pennsylvania contains a large amount of roads servicing a relatively small population, creating a shortage of funds that can be acquired through taxes and designated for PennDOT.
- Most roads in the Scranton/Northeast area have been built on abandoned coal mines which can cause poor conditions of the roads.
Other controversies PennDOT has faced have been nothing out of the ordinary, such as misuse of public funds as spending money for employees.
Some would point out that Pennsylvania's weather is no worse than many other northern states, and in some cases milder[who?]. A lot of states with harsher climates than Pennsylvania have roads that are superior to those of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, so the "bad weather in Pennsylvania argument" is not completely valid[citation needed].
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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