The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) is a unit of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT). It was created in 2005 to advance transportation science, technology, and analysis, as well as improve the coordination of transportation research within the department and throughout the transportation community. RITA performs four basic functions: RITA has over 750 employees in Washington, DC, at the Volpe Center (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and at the Transportation Safety Institute (Oklahoma City, OK).