In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in developing public transportation and general aviation programs.

Each district is responsible for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of the state and federal highways in their region.

In 1918 came the creation of the Georgia State Highway Commission, which made surveys and oversaw plans for road projects.

A majority of the department's resources are directed toward maintaining and improving the state's network of roads and bridges.

Proceeds from the state's motor fuel taxes are constitutionally earmarked solely for use on Georgia's roads and bridges.

This has left many urbanized counties forced to maintain many miles of arterial routes and a few freeways due to inability to get these roads onto the state highway system.

All these projects contributed to Atlanta having world class infrastructure and being selected to host the 1996 Summer Olympics.

[22] This marked the true end of Freeing the Freeways as all the urban and suburban widening projects were complete and the HOV lanes initially built in the late 1980s were finally opened and operating.

Georgia boasts one of the most extensive freight rail systems in the U.S., with some 5,000 miles of track that run through almost all of the state's 159 counties.

Georgia's light density lines carry less than 5 million gross tons of freight per year and function as local shortline service operators, primarily in rural agricultural areas.

Some Georgia mainlines transport more than 80 million gross tons per year, ranking them among the most heavily used in the country.

Aviation Programs is tasked to assure a safe, adequate, and well-maintained system of public-use airports, to promote and encourage the use of aviation facilities, to guide airport development, to promote viable scheduled air service throughout the state, and to foster safer operating conditions at these facilities.

Georgia was designated by the FAA as the 10th participant in the State Block Grant Program beginning October 1, 2008.

Capital improvement projects include new, extension or widening of a runway, taxiway, or aircraft parking apron.

Maintenance projects include resurfacing or reconstruction of runways, taxiways, and aprons, repair of lighting systems and approach aids, and sealing of joints and cracks on airfield pavements.

Approach aid projects include the purchase and installation of glide slopes, localizers, visual guidance, and automated weather reporting equipment.

[24] The board's powers include designating which public roads are encompassed within the state highway system; approving long-range transportation plans; overseeing the administration of construction contracts; and authorizing lease agreements.