South Carolina Department of Transportation
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | May 13, 1977 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Headquarters | Columbia |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | http://www.scdot.org/ |
The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is a government agency in the US state of South Carolina. Its mission is to build and maintain roads and bridges and administer mass transit services.
By state law, the SCDOT's function and purpose is the systematic planning, construction, maintenance, and operation of the state highway system and the development of a statewide mass transit system that is consistent with the needs and desires of the public. The SCDOT also coordinates all state and federal programs relating to highways. The goal of the SCDOT is to provide adequate, safe, and efficient transportation services for the movement of people and goods.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation is still familiarly known as the Highway Department, which is what the agency was called until May 13, 1977 when an act of the South Carolina General Assembly reformed the agency as the Department of Highways and Public Transportation (SCDHPT).
The current name, the Department of Transportation, was established in the State Government Restructuring Act of 1993. This act split functions of the SCDHPT to establish the SCDOT and the Department of Public Safety.
The roots of the state agency trace back to the establishment of a five-member highway commission in 1917. Prior to 1917, county governments were entirely responsible for building and maintaining roads. The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 and the promise of federal money to build highways served as the impetus for the creation of the commission. However, the commission lacked "the authority to designate roads to be improved with federal funds and the power to supervise directly the work being done".
The SCDOT is a department of the state government in the executive branch that reports to a cabinet secretary and a seven-member commission. The Governor appoints one member of the commission and the Secretary of Transportation, who is a member of the Governor's cabinet. The current secretary is Christy A. Hall. The other six commissioners each represent a district. The commission districts coincide with the congressional districts of South Carolina. The commissioner is appointed for a term of four years by legislative delegation for that district, that is, the members of the General Assembly that represent voters in that district. The chairman is selected from among all seven members by a vote of the commission.
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