To meet the needs of national economic development and to actively promote the modernization of transportation infrastructure in Taiwan, the university established the Department of Marine Transportation and the Department of Shipping Technology (with two divisions: Navigation and Marine Engineering) in 1973. In the following year, the Department of Transportation Management was established to cultivate engineering and management professionals in marine, land, air, and urban transportation.

In 1976, the Institute of Transportation Engineering was founded to train mid- to high-level professionals in urban, land, sea, and air transportation engineering and management, in response to the needs of national economic development and infrastructure construction. Recognizing that transportation involves a wide range of academic disciplines beyond engineering alone, the institute was renamed the Institute of Transportation in 1979 to better reflect its broader scope.

In 1980, the Department of Marine Transportation and the Department of Transportation Management were reorganized and merged into the Department of Transportation Engineering and Management. In 1987, the university was approved to establish a doctoral program.

In 2001, in response to the globalization of industries and the development trends of supply chain and demand chain management, a Transportation and Logistics Program was further established to meet industry needs and to cultivate mid- to senior-level professionals in the fields of transportation and logistics.