Intermodal Planning Division - Transportation planning supports the economic vitality of the state by increasing available options and enhancing the integration and connectivity of the transportation system across and between modes for people and freight. Transportation planning is more than merely listing highway and transit capital investments. It requires developing strategies for operating, managing, maintaining, and financing the area's transportation system to advance the area's long-term goals. An efficient transportation system can improve the economy, shape development patterns, and influence quality of life and the natural environment.

The Office of Planning is comprised of four distinct units under the Director of Planning: Statewide Planning, Asset Management, System Performance Management and Public Involvement.

The units are tasked with:
- Managing the statewide transportation planning process for the state of South Carolina.
- Monitoring the growth of regions throughout the state and the impact on the transportation infrastructure.
- Actively involving the public, resource agencies, local governments, stakeholders and other interested parties in planning and development of the state's transportation system.
- Public involvement is one of the most important responsibilities of the Office of Planning. It permeates the entire transportation decision-making and project development processes, and is accomplished through various types of public involvement opportunities depending upon the needs of the given transportation plan, program or project.
- Through workshops, information meetings, hearings, open house events, the media, the internet and email, the public and stakeholders are informed of transportation planning and project development issues, and are given opportunities to comment on such plans or programs at the local, regional and state levels.

SC DOT Commission - The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is governed by the SCDOT Commission. The Commission is the general policy making authority of the Department. Its duties and powers are outlined in Section 57-1-10(1) and Sections 57-1-310, et seq. of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, as amended.

The Commission is comprised of eight members, seven of whom are elected by the legislative delegations of each of the state's Congressional Districts and one at-large member who is appointed by the Governor. Each Commissioner must be qualified and screened by the Joint Transportation Committee prior to election or appointment. The Commission annually elects a Chairman and Vice-Chairman in January, whose duties are assumed in February.

The Commission works closely with the Secretary of Transportation, who is appointed by the Governor as the chief administrative officer of the Department. SCDOT's Secretary of Transportation carries out the policies of the Commission and represents the Department in dealings with other state agencies, local governments, special districts, other states and the federal government.

SECTION 57-3-10. Department divided into divisions.

(A) The Department of Transportation is comprised of the following principal divisions:

(1) finance and administration;

(2) construction, engineering, and planning; and

(3) intermodal and freight programs.

(B) The Secretary of Transportation may establish other divisions, or ancillary or service divisions or offices as may be necessary for the efficient and economic operation of the department and to carry out the functions and purposes of the department.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 33-21; 1952 Code Section 33-21; 1951 (47) 457; 1977 Act No. 82 Section 3; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1506; 2010 Act No. 206, Section 3, eff June 7, 2010.

Effect of Amendment

The 2010 amendment rewrote this section.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) was created in 1993 by Section 57-3-10, et.seq., and charged with the responsibility of the systematic planning, construction, maintenance, and operation of the State Highway System and development of a general mass transit policy program.

The SCDOT also coordinates all state and federal programs relating to highways. The goal of the SCDOT is to provide adequate, safe, and efficient transportation services for the movement of people and goods.

The SCDOT is governed by the Transportation Commission and the Secretary of Transportation.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is still familiarly known as the Highway Department, which is what the agency was called until May 13, 1977 when an Act of the South Carolina General Assembly reformed the agency as the Department of Highways and Public Transportation (SCDHPT).

The current name, the Department of Transportation, was established in the State Government Restructuring Act of 1993. This Act split functions of the SCDHPT to establish the SCDOT and the Department of Public Safety.

The roots of the state agency trace back to the establishment of a five-member Highway Commission in 1917. Prior to 1917, county governments were entirely responsible for building and maintaining roads. The Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 and the promise of federal money to build highways served as the impetus for the creation of the Commission. However, the original Highway Commission lacked the authority to designate roads to be improved with federal funds and the power to supervise directly the work being done.