Research and Innovative Technology Administration
research programs agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation
The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) was a unit of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). It was created in 2005 to advance transportation science, technology, and analysis, as well as improve the coordination of transportation research within the department and throughout the transportation community.
RITA performed four basic functions:
Coordinated the USDOT's research and education programs
Shared advanced technologies with the transportation system
Offered transportation statistics and analysis for decision-making
Supported national efforts to improve education and training in transportation-related fields
RITA had over 750 employees in Washington, DC, at the Volpe Center (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and at the Transportation Safety Institute (Oklahoma City, OK).
RITA was dissolved by section 6012 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 and its functions were transferred to the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.
History
RITA was created under the Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Program Improvement Act, and opened its doors on February 22, 2005. RITA's formation was part of a Department-wide reorganization to create one agency solely focused on promoting transportation research. In a report titled Research Activities of the Department of Transportation: A Report to Congress, then-Transportation Secretary Mineta promoted his vision for RITA as “A DOT administration that combines research-driven innovation and entrepreneurship to ensure a safe and robust transportation network.”
The new agency was formed from several existing parts of USDOT:
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), which was formed in 1992 after being authorized in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). BTS was previously an independent statistical agency within DOT.
The Office of Research, Development and Technology, which was part of the former Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), an agency that was disestablished by the Mineta Act;
The Office of Inter modalism which was created by the ISTEA and was formerly part of the Office of the Secretary in DOT;
The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was formed in 1970 to provide analytical, scientific, and engineering support to the newly established USDOT. The center had been part of RSPA.
The Transportation Safety Institute (TSI), established in 1971 to assist DOT modal administrations in accomplishing their mission-essential training requirements. TSI had been part of RSPA.
The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO), which is composed of program managers and coordinators of the USDOT's multimodal Intelligent Transportation Systems research initiatives. Created in 1991, the JPO was previously part of the Federal Highway Administration.
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