Do We Really Need a Department of Transportation?

American Thinker ^ | 01/12/2023 | Mac Madden

[PGR88]

Other things happened like freeways and planes.

We also had hyper-regulation of railroads, and total Fed.gov takeover of all passenger rail from railroad companies.

NO ONE knows what true uncontrolled and free-market US passenger rail network could look like in the USA, because Fed.gov owns it all.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Of course we need the DOT for well, transporn’ stuff and making sure truck drivers are awake and carry fire extinguishers and stuff like that.

Every state has its own DOT, why do they need a DOT in Washington DC to do these things?

[TBP]

No. it’s one of at least 9 or 10 departments we should get rid of.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Try a new Department of Prevention. An office with veto power over all ideas that will grow into bigger government. A small staff-10 or so in number.

Put it down the hallway next to the Department of Wishful Thinking.

[SuperLuminal]

A careful reading of the Constitution would show that:

• the Transportation Dept,
• the Education Dept,
• the Homeland Security Dept,
• the African Development Foundation,
• the Department of Health and Human Services,
• the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and,
• the 19 Independent agencies and government-owned corporations.

are absolutely essential to controlling the lowly serfs and protecting the elite...

[Sequoyah101]

I guess you didn’t catch the sarcasm?

[XRdsRev]

Well the Federal Department of Transportation does do some good. Regulating air travel routes, airports, standard procedures for flying, navigation beacons ect. Also regulating and coordinating highway and railway construction does insure that major highways are built to a certain plan, connect with other major highways and provide continuity in terms of things like bridge heights, weight limits ect. And that all major railways follow a standard gauge.

Unfortunately individual state DOT’s often have a pretty bad record of coordinating, planning and working with each other. Years ago a major bridge was built across the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania and while the work on the NJ side was finished, the bridge just ended in PA with no ramps for another two years and PA still has not fully completed the planned work 50 years later.

[Publius]

Years ago a major bridge was built across the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania and while the work on the NJ side was finished, the bridge just ended in PA with no ramps for another two years and PA still has not fully completed the planned work 50 years later.

If you're referring to the Betsy Ross Bridge, PA Route 90 (the Northeast Freeway) was taken off the state's master plan decades ago due to popular protests. NJ Route 90 has still not been built to connect with I-295.

[rxh4n1]

NO ONE knows what true uncontrolled and free-market US passenger rail network could look like in the USA, because Fed.gov owns it all.

There wouldn’t be one as profitability is very unlikely. Read a railroad history about how the fedgov helped ruin passenger railroading.