The U.S. Department of Transportation needs a new mission. Even the current secretary, Norman Mineta, thinks so.

Last year, some transportation agencies, including the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration, were transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. Now that DOT has been stripped of its security-related functions, the federal transportation agency needs a greater purpose.

In a memo issued late last year, Mineta proposed shifting hazardous materials oversight away from DOT's Research and Special Projects Administration, disbanding that agency, and creating a new Research and Innovative Technology Administration. His plan also calls for merging the Federal Railroad Administration and the Office of Pipeline Safety into a new entity. "We need to create a more focused research organization within the department that emphasizes and promotes innovative technology," he wrote.

Mineta's proposal has merit, but it doesn't go far enough toward redefining the agency's role for the future. As a nation, we should make important policy decisions on the basis of a wide range of facts and solid research. By developing and providing that information, DOT could play an essential role in the support of data-driven decision making in Congress.

For instance, many shippers and carriers remain concerned that the Department of Homeland Security will make decisions that could be hostile to commerce. DOT could analyze Homeland Security's proposals from the perspective of carriers and shippers.

The government could also play a critical part in evaluating new supply chain technologies. One area that might benefit from government participation is the development of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for tagging shipments. Although private industry has so far led the charge and conducted pilot programs demonstrating the concept's value, DOT could conduct more research on ways to use this technology to safeguard transportation. It could also play a role in establishing nationwide standards that would make the technology vendor-neutral for transportation applications, ensuring that no private concern establishes a monopoly.

But DOT's research need not focus just on emerging technologies. It also could examine the impact of government policies on the transportation industry. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did most of the research on the current mandates for cleaner-burning diesel engines. Many in the industry suspect that those studies were biased in favor of stringent environmental controls and did not examine the full economic impact of such sweeping change on the trucking industry and on shippers. Indeed, there's already talk of requiring even cleaner-burning engines in 2010 to curb so-called nanoparticulates, tiny pieces of matter that are much smaller than the particles that must be removed from truck exhaust emissions under current standards. DOT would be the logical choice to investigate the potential impact of those proposals.

One hundred and fifty years ago, federal policies that promoted the development of railroads laid the basis for coast-to-coast commerce. Although we're moving toward a knowledge-based economy, transportation still remains fundamental to the prosperity of our nation. And now that we're well into the Information Age, it only makes sense that DOT's mission as an agency should be to gather, analyze, and interpret transportation data. Whether stricter exhaust emissions or foreign trade policy are involved, DOT could provide lawmakers with a more balanced view, offering an industry perspective on the impact of a host of regulatory policies on transportation and logistics.