LaHood stepping down

[creadinger]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/ray-lahood-stepping-down-at-us-transportation-secretary/2013/01/29/13b46a14-6a25-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_story.html?hpid=z5

Looks like Obama will have to appoint a new transportation secretary. While I personally I’m pretty liberal I feel like LaHood, the former republican congressman, did a really good job as transportation secretary. He seems to understand that transit in the future is not just wider roads. That there has to be a multimodal approach to solving transportation problems which includes mass transit, bikes, peds etc…

He also put an emphasis on distracted driving and helped to show that it is as bad or worse than drunk driving. That’s huge for cyclists who are probably the most vulnerable to drivers who aren’t watching where they’re going or swerving out of their lane.

Hopefully his replacement will emphasize mass transit and alternative transportation even a little more than LaHood did. At the very least hopefully he/she can help to steer the state legislatures from cooking up new boneheaded laws that are anti-bike/ped.

Topic

[Greenbelt]

Agree that LaHood did a good job for bikes overall, especially on the image and acceptability side. He talked the talk pretty well, but he also showed up iin person at bike trail openings and events and did other little things to show support — that little stuff means a lot to me.

[PotomacCyclist]

I hope his replacement is cut from the same mold as Ray LaHood. He has been a great Secretary of Transportation.

[KLizotte]

Gabe Klein would be a good replacement; he was really into bikes as DDOT head.

[baiskeli]

I think it should be “LaHood dismounting” but whatever.

[DaveK]

If he nominates a bike fantasy pick it’s going to be Janette Sadik-Khan from NYC. I don’t see it happening though. I think Jim Oberstar or Tom Petri are more likely picks (with Petri filling the Republican quota).

[Author]

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