# US Department of Transportation

**Canonical:** https://apis.io/providers/dot/  
**Website:** https://www.transportation.gov/  
**APIs profiled:** 12

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) oversees federal transportation policy and operates multiple agencies that publish public REST APIs covering trucking and motor carrier safety (FMCSA), vehicle product information and safety recalls (NHTSA), aviation safety and airspace data (FAA), transit statistics, and transportation data portals. DOT APIs are free public government services requiring API key registration via Login.gov or the relevant agency developer portal.

## Kin Score — 33.0 / 100 (thin)

Scored 2026-08-20 under rubric 0.12.0. Trend: flat (+0.0 from 33.0).

| Facet | Score |
|---|---|
| Discoverability | 74.1 |
| Contract Quality | 38.5 |
| Governance | 9.8 |
| Contract Governance | 9.8 |
| Operational Transparency | 52.6 |
| Developer Ergonomics | 11.9 |
| Commercial Clarity | 28.9 |
| Access Clarity | 28.9 |

Regulatory layer — **Government & Public Sector**: 20.4 (matched via tags).

## Agent readiness — 24.5 (agent-aware)

| Dimension | Value |
|---|---|
| Spec Presence | yes |
| Agentic Access | derived |
| Reversibility Documented | na |
| MCP Server | no |
| Auth Clarity | no |
| Idempotency | na |
| Error Semantics | no |
| OpenAPI Examples | no |
| Rate Limit Signal | documented |
| Event Surface Described | no |
| Agent Skills | no |
| Well Known Catalog | no |
| Consent Identity | no |
| Agent Card | no |
| Dry Run Mode | na |

## Access

Free · Open access — onboarding: open, pricing: free, trial: no (confidence: medium).

## APIs (12)

- **FMCSA QCMobile API** — The FMCSA QCMobile API provides safety performance data for U.S. Department of Transportation registered motor carriers. Developers can query carrier registration information, l...
- **FMCSA SaferBus API** — The FMCSA SaferBus API is a RESTful service making available safety performance data for U.S. DOT-registered bus companies. It enables developers to build consumer-facing produc...
- **NHTSA vPIC Vehicle API** — The NHTSA Vehicle Product Information Catalog (vPIC) API provides programmatic access to vehicle make, model, manufacturer, and type data compiled by NHTSA. Key capabilities inc...
- **NHTSA Datasets and APIs** — NHTSA provides public datasets and APIs covering vehicle safety complaints, recalls, safety ratings (NCAP), and defect investigations. Complaint data entered into NHTSA's Office...
- **DOT Open Data Portal** — The U.S. Department of Transportation Open Data Portal provides access to transportation datasets published by DOT agencies including FMCSA, NHTSA, FTA, BTS, FAA, PHMSA, and mor...
- **US Department of Transportation childSeats API** — Child Seat search and list endpoints
- **US Department of Transportation equipment API** — Equipment search and list endpoints
- **US Department of Transportation ewr API** — Early Warning Report endpoints
- **US Department of Transportation foreignCampaigns API** — Foreign Campaign search and list endpoints
- **US Department of Transportation safetyIssues API** — Recalls, Investigations, Complaints, and Manufacturer Communications
- **US Department of Transportation tires API** — Tire search and list endpoints
- **US Department of Transportation vehicles API** — Vehicle search and list endpoints

## Agentic access (1)

- **Dot Agentic Access** — 44 operations

## Security (1)

- **Dot Domain Security** — TLSv1.3 · HSTS · DNSSEC · DMARC

## Plans (1)

- **Dot Plans Pricing**

## Tags

Government, Transportation, Trucking, Aviation, Vehicle Safety, Transit, Open Data

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Profiled by [API Evangelist](https://apievangelist.com) and published on [APIs.io](https://apis.io/providers/dot/). Scores are computed from the provider's own public artifacts under a published rubric.