American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
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AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols and guidelines which are used in highway design and construction throughout the United States. Despite their name, they represent not only highways but air, rail, water, and public transportation as well. The membership consists of every US State DOT, and the Federal DOT. Most Canadian Provinces as well as a few foreign nations are affiliate members.
The organization publishes the A Policy on Geometric Design of Streets and Highways, which is the design guideline for streets and highways in the United States.
AASHTO is not a government body, but does possess quasi-governmental powers in the sense that the organizations that supply its members customarily obey most AASHTO decisions. It is an example of a general tendency in the American style of government to outsource many governmental functions to nongovernmental organizations, whose decisions are then routinely ratified by appropriate government agencies.
External links
- Official AASHTO site (http://transportation.org/aashto/home.nsf/FrontPage)