49 U.S.C. § 101 — Purpose

This section explains the purpose behind the Department of Transportation. (a) The nation's goals — general welfare, economic growth and stability, and national security — require transportation policies and programs that provide fast, safe, efficient, and convenient transportation at the lowest cost consistent with those goals, including using and conserving the country's resources wisely. (b) A Department of Transportation is needed, in the public interest, to: (1) make sure the federal government's transportation programs are run in a coordinated and effective way; (2) make it easier for private companies to develop and improve coordinated transportation service, as much as is realistically possible; (3) encourage federal, state, and local governments, carriers, labor, and other interested people to work together toward transportation goals; (4) push forward technological progress in transportation, through research and development or other means; (5) provide overall leadership in spotting and solving transportation problems; and (6) develop and recommend transportation policies and programs to the President and Congress, considering the needs of the public, users, carriers, industry, labor, and national defense.