Current, former DDOT directors join the presidential transition team

District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Jeff Marootian and a former holder of the same position, Gabe Klein, have been appointed to President-Elect Joe Biden’s transportation transition team. The 18-person group, which also includes Polly Trottenberg, NYC’s DOT Director, could indicate a renewed focus on cities’ transportation needs and an appetite for sustainability- and equity-focused transportation policy.

What do transition teams do?

The Biden-Harris transition team said in its announcement:

“The teams have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing America’s most urgent and complex challenges.”

Members are expected to help inform the new administration’s decisions about what transportation issues to prioritize (for example, safety and regional rail), and vet key appointments and other staffing decisions.

Think local, advise national

With the national elections and presidential transition dominating the news cycle, early policy and staffing choices connect transportation ideas at the local and national levels in a way that’s rarely so visible to the public. Marootian and Klein, along with Trottenberg, will bring direct experience of urban transportation priorities and challenges. All three have highlighted, in various settings, sustainability and equity as core values in transportation planning. That emphasis could translate to transit and active transportation being higher priorities under a national policy agenda than they currently are.

Some observers have welcomed other signals from the incoming administration that it will embrace environmental sustainability, equity, and safety, while noting that Congress’s power to set the budget circumscribes the influence of the President or DOT to make major progress on initiatives.

While GGWash generally writes about local and regional matters, the federal agenda strongly influences the choices that local leaders have available to them. For example, programs supported by a new administration sometimes intersect with initiatives at a local level. The K Street Transitway’s current design was created partly in response to the Obama administration’s TIGER stimulus program in 2009, which offered $2.1 billion for “innovative transportation projects that address economic, environmental and travel issues at once.”

Without a clear plan for federal relief (though one might be dangling), which leading advocates have identified as essential, WMATA and transit agencies across the country have to plan for significant budget cuts this winter. Though relief is entirely in the hands of Congress, leadership at the White House plays an important role in motivating key congressional stakeholders to move on such measures, to put them aside, or in recent times even punish cities whose administrations aren’t seen as political allies, by starving them of needed federal funds.

No transportation tea leaves, but a sign that cities matter

The Trump administration’s transition in 2016 reportedly eschewed the opportunity to plan early to advance policy priorities, even after the race was won. So releasing this list, whatever one’s political persuasions, suggests that the new administration is at least putting some thought into what they want to do with transportation.

It’s too early to say what these newly-minted advisers will do exactly, but they bring experience and knowledge of urban mobility needs that could help bring cities back to the forefront. Director Marootian served at the US DOT under the Obama administration, working or leading on urban sustainability and mobility initiatives. Expansion of the Circulator bus system, a series of car-free lanes, and increased biking infrastructure have been notable areas of focus during his tenure.

Former DDOT Director (and occasional GGWash contributor) Klein also led the Chicago DOT and now heads an urban policy consultancy. In June, Klein called for urban policy and planning that addresses inequities in mobility, health, housing and opportunity that come directly out of racist approaches. “We cannot fulfill plans for safer, cleaner, more sustainable cities without addressing the racialized history of redlining and the modern segregation that allows inequality to thrive,” he observed, going on to note: “…[i]n addition to the hazards of driving and jogging while black, walking, bicycling and breathing are also disproportionately dangerous for people of color.”

A major report by the Biden-Harris transition team on embedding climate change into a variety of policy agendas also details a number of transportation-related recommendations, including prioritizing transit and electric vehicles.

While leaders at every level of government need to address health, economic and environmental crises unfolding at the same time, transportation (especially in cities) is one policy area that can help with all three. It’ll be interesting to watch for signs that these locally-grown urban transportation leaders are having an impact on policy that filter back to the region and maybe even reflect some lessons learned during their tenures at DDOT.