Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
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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 of state roads and highways, about 25,000 bridges, as well as new roadway construction, the exception being the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, although they currently follow PennDOT policies and procedures. 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 10, then divide by 2. 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.
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).
[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.
