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Tennessee Department of Transportation

In Tennessee, the Department of Transportation (“TDOT”) provides citizens of Tennessee and travelers with one of the best transportation systems in the country.  The TDOT was established pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-2301.  TDOT consistently wins awards for its projects, highway design, and for its innovative approach to transportation.  Since 1998, Tennessee was voted as having one of the top five highway systems in the country by a national trade magazine.

The TDOT is a multimodal agency with responsibilities in aviation, public transit, waterways, and railroads. Our involvement ranges from airport improvements to funding transit buses to planning for river ports.  The TDOT has approximately 4,200 employees with four statewide region facilities in Jackson, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville.  The TDOT is headquartered at downtown Nashville.

The administrator and head of the department will be the commissioner of transportation (“commissioner”),  will be a person qualified by training and experience to perform the duties of the commissioner’s office.  The commissioner is appointed by the governor.  In the event of death, resignation, temporary incapacity, or removal of the commissioner, and prior to the appointment of the commissioner’s successor, the governor may appoint a qualified employee of the department of transportation to serve as acting commissioner.  The commissioner may appoint, during the commissioner’s absence from the state, a qualified employee of the department to serve as acting commissioner for the duration of the absence[i].  In either case, the acting commissioner has all the duties, functions, and powers of the commissioner during the commissioner’s absence or incapacity, or until the commissioner’s successor is duly qualified and appointed.

Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-2303, the commissioner has the power and duty to:

  • Retain, employ, and contract for the services of private and public consultants, research, and technical personnel and procure by contract, whenever considered by the commissioner necessary or desirable in the performance of the functions of the department and whenever funds are available for those purposes;
  • Establish and promulgate such rules and regulations governing the administration and operation of the department as may be deemed necessary by the commissioner and that are not inconsistent with the laws of this state;
  • Maintain such facilities throughout the state as may be required for the effective and efficient operation of the department;
  • Apply for and accept on behalf of the state any grant from the federal government to be used for any of the purposes of the department, and to comply with any conditions and limitations annexed;
  • Supervise, direct, and account for the administration and operation of the department and its employees; and
  • Organize the department into such units as the commissioner deems necessary to carry out the duties and functions imposed on the commissioner and the department.

 

TDOT has initiated many key Programs.  The TDOT SmartWay is one of the key programs initiated by the TDOT.  TDOT Smartway is the state’s intelligent transportation system deployed in all four urban areas.  The full complement includes a system of cameras, dynamic messaging, and a transportation management center to monitor traffic and assist in reducing congestion on urban interstates.  Completed systems are located in Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis and a basic system in Chattanooga.  A rural TDOT SmartWay system is located in seven rural counties in east Tennessee including cameras to monitor the Rockwood Mountain.

Additionally, the TDOT HELP program was launched in 1999 to help clear interstates of congestion by removing obstacles including vehicles from the travel lanes, thereby reducing traffic impact.  Since that time, millions of motorists have been assisted and impacts to traffic have been reduced.[ii].

Tennessee Department of Transportation

[i] Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-3-2302.

[ii] Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-3-105.


Inside Tennessee Department of Transportation