Hah- my theory is it’s the opposite of grooming him for future runs. It’s kind of a hidden cabinet position, not one we see or hear a lot of. (Which is not the same as saying it’s unimportant.)
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We’ll likely see a lot of it, actually, because of the need for infra and transit funding packages ASAP
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I hope we do. American infastructure is an embarassment
It’s just one of those ones that happens more behind the scenes, it seems.
Like we see Sect. of Defense, and State, and Treasury, on the news a lot. Or hear about Education.
But I can’t think of many times I saw Transportation. Of course, since none of them did ANYTHING productive these past 4 years, maybe it’s different in normal times.
I do not feel the same way but I understand other people like him. He seems fine to me but he seemed way too inexperienced for the top job, and we didn’t need an inexperienced person after what happened last time…
I will say that someone that worked with him on Complete Streets (multi-modal liveable street design) is supportive, which gives me hope.
Fair…I only see Transpo Sec because I work in the sector. Most people don’t even know the name
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Fair…I only see Transpo Sec because I work in the sector. Most people don’t even know the name
Is it Chao?
Trump’s cabinet is particularly hard to keep track of because they keep changing.
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I also think this position is burying him, rather than elevating him for the future. I support that - I don’t need an inexperienced white dude being the front runner in the future. Unless this is some strategy where in 4 years, we’re looking at a Harris run in 2024 and bringing him in for potential VP.
That said - I agree that it would be nice to post someone competent in transit and infrastructure instead of it being a political job handout.
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I meant that I think considering him for the China position was an attempt to set him up for future runs.
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I wanted Congressman Blumenauer. I knew I wasn’t gonna be an old white guy, let alone a sitting Dem congressman with a seat on the Ways & Means committee, but I still wanted it.
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I think we have a winner.
Hopefully he will run the DOT like Hillary ran State – my colleagues who worked under both Condaleeza Rice (ugh!) and Clinton said CR would bring experts in and then do totally the opposite of what they recommended, while HRC really listened and often changed her position on things based on what the people with expertise/experience had to say.
Ambassador to China is a tough gig. Gary Locke has been the only decent one in decades. I was so sad when he resigned.
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Yeah… I don’t dislike him. I like him, actually. But, transportation? IN is not known as a bastion of excellent public transport, as far as I am aware.
Tiny victory: it’s not Rahm, who DID run a city that has excellent public transport? I was sorta preparing myself for him.
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Very little of the TranspoSec’s position will influence the operating of large city transit systems. those are run by municipal transit agencies. His experience with complete streets in mid-sized city america is actually closer to the experience of a lot of wheeling and dealing he’ll be doing.
TranspoSec in next few years as I see it:
- supporting transit operators- predominately small cities and rural - in actual operating funds with cratering state/local funding due to covid and very low farebox due to cut in ridership
- work with law enforcement on disproportionate policing of black + brown communities as part of traffic enforcement (this is influenced at the DOT level)
- prioritizing highway vs transit infrastructure in federal funding, here we need a big push towards all sorts of more sustainable options (since reagan there has been an 80/20 rule where 80% has to be spent on highways)
- look at blue book (engineering standards) requirements for thruput that value vehicle speed over human lives (vision zero, actually Mayor Pete was the only candidate who had a viz0 platform)
- establish a USDOT priority for tech upgrades and statdardized data for transit - ideally integrated payments, planning and fares at a national level (GTFS spec) like we are seeing with CAL-ITP and more
- figuring out if we can move away from the gas tax, which has not been raised in 30 years and desperately needs an overhaul to something like VMT (vehicle miles traveled rather than by gas by barrell)
- working with congress to actually get an omnibus (no pun intended) package passed for renewal of transportation funding priorities WITHOUT massively expanding highways
- find funding for the huge amount of shovel-ready high speed rail projects in this country
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I didn’t know he was Vision Zero
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This is tangential to the topic but it might be interesting to anyone who might be interested in law and the most recent election case brought before the Supreme Court (briefly), and the possible reasons behind it:
Legal Eagle mostly makes videos about laws “broken” in movies and TV shows, so it’s largely an entertainment channel, but he also sometimes talks about real law issues, including some of the stuff that has been going on. He talks about things like constitutional amendments and the language of laws and lawsuits in a very easy comprehensible way that is quite interesting if you’ve never worked in or adjacent to the legal system (which, I think, is most people?). I have had to read case law before, but only environmental law, and it has been a minute (and I am not a lawyer, haha), and I find the videos interesting.
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Agree! I haven’t seen this one yet, but some of his break downs on different scenarios during the election have been really interesting and educational for me. He makes it accessible which I really like.
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I didn’t realize he is a complete and utter transportation geek; so he’s gonna not want to eff this up. It’s like near and dear to him.
As opposed to if he was just given Energy or Commerce and been like “cool, I’m in the cabinet. What do I do now?”
(I mean not that he wants to mess anything up. But apparently the transportation sector is like a lifelong fascination of his.)
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If they wanted a gay guy who likes trains, I could’ve given them half my twitter followers 
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Get them to get national attention in politics, and they too can run the department of transportation!
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Hey, we have them if they would’ve been able to appoint a congressperson.
This is from the New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens group. The guy pictures is a train conductor in the Netherlands who posts a LOT of selfies of himself.
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I just saw that Biden appointed Deb Haaland for Secretary of the Interior! I’m so happy about this.
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