Transportation steering toward e-government
- By Paula Shaki Trimble
- Mar 20, 2000
The Transportation Department announced Monday the availability of several
Web sites that will allow customers to pay for goods, services and registrations
over the Internet.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration now operates a Web site
(www.fmcsa.dot.gov) that allows commercial truck and bus operators to use
the Internet to apply for registrations and pay fines for violations of
federal motor carrier safety regulations.
The Office of Pipeline Safety (diy.dot.gov/pipeline) and Office of Hazardous
Materials Safety (diy.dot.gov/hazmat) both have sites that customers can
use for Freedom of Information Act request, assessment and civil penalty
payments.
The sites are part of the agency's move toward electronic commerce and
paperless business, said David Kleinberg, DOT deputy chief financial officer.
The idea is to make it simpler for customers to do routine business with
the agency, such as buying medals and registering for training, he said.
People can get to the sites through the home page for the individual
operating administration, he said. Credit cards are accepted and the sites
have security built in.
Other sites include:
* Maritime Administration (diy.dot.gov/marad/) for firefighting training
and FOIA requests and to obtain medals for World War II merchant mariners.
* National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (diy.dot.gov/nhtsa)
to get highway technical information and FOIA requests.
* Federal Railroad Administration (diy.dot.gov/fra) to deal with safety
and hazardous materials violations and FOIA requests.
Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater also announced future Web sites
that will be available this year:
* Federal Aviation Administration for aircraft registration and airman
data.
* Federal Highway Administration for National Highway Institute course
registration.
* Research and Special Programs Administration for hazardous materials
training, outreach and registration and information on the Transportation
Safety Institute.
* U.S. Coast Guard for personnel debts.