Research and Innovative Technology Administration - History

History

RITA was created by 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 Intermodalism 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, MA, 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.