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 <title>newsobserver.com projects - What does the Transportation Secretary do? - Comments</title>
 <link>http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/faq/what_does_the_transportation_secretary_do</link>
 <description>Comments for &quot;What does the Transportation Secretary do?&quot;</description>
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 <title>What does the Transportation Secretary do?</title>
 <link>http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/faq/what_does_the_transportation_secretary_do</link>
 <description>&lt;div class=&quot;field field-type-text field-field-answer&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;field-label&quot;&gt;Answer:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;field-items&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;field-item&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Oversees state highways, mass transit, ferries and other transportation programs.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As head of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncdot.org&quot;&gt;N.C. Department of Transportation&lt;/a&gt;, the governor-appointed secretary supervises the state&amp;#39;s divisions on highways, mass transit and railroads, as well as aviation, bicycle and pedestrian trails and ferries.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The department also includes the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/&quot;&gt;N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles&lt;/a&gt;, which oversees driver&amp;#39;s licenses and vehicle registration.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The department is one of largest in the Cabinet or the &lt;a href=&quot;/faq/who_is_on_the_council_of_state&quot;&gt;Council of State&lt;/a&gt;. It employs more than &lt;a href=&quot;/under_the_dome/employees_and_the_cabinet_departments&quot;&gt;12,000 people&lt;/a&gt; and has an annual budget of &lt;a href=&quot;/under_the_dome/spending_and_the_cabinet_departments&quot;&gt;more than $3 billion&lt;/a&gt;, including both state and federal money. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The secretary is one of 10 &lt;a href=&quot;/under_the_dome/faq/who_serves_in_the_governors_cabinet&quot;&gt;Cabinet&lt;/a&gt;-level positions appointed by the governor to head state agencies. In 2008-09, the annual salary was &lt;a href=&quot;/under_the_dome/elected_officials_make_more_than_appointees&quot;&gt;$120,363&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The State Highway Commission was created in 1915. In 1941, the legislature created the Department of Motor Vehicles. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In 1971, the two agencies were merged to form the N.C. Department of Transportation and Highway Safety during the administration of Gov. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Scott&quot;&gt;Bob Scott&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The department was given its current name in 1979. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The department is outlined in general statutes under Article 8 of &lt;a href=&quot;http://ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByChapter/Chapter_143B.html&quot;&gt;G.S. 143B&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;field field-type-text field-field-brief&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;field-label&quot;&gt;Brief:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;field-items&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;field-item&quot;&gt;Oversees state highways, mass transit, ferries and other transportation programs.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/faq/what_does_the_transportation_secretary_do#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://projects.newsobserver.com/tags/cabinet">cabinet</category>
 <category domain="http://projects.newsobserver.com/tags/highways">highways</category>
 <category domain="http://projects.newsobserver.com/tags/n_c_department_of_transportation">N.C. Department of Transportation</category>
 <category domain="http://projects.newsobserver.com/tags/n_c_division_of_motor_vehicles">N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles</category>
 <category domain="http://projects.newsobserver.com/tags/roads">roads</category>
 <category domain="http://projects.newsobserver.com/project/under_the_dome">Under the Dome</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:14:11 -0500</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>ryanteaguebeckwith</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">10993 at http://projects.newsobserver.com</guid>
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