Mary Peters For DOT Secretary
Oliver B.Patton
Washington Editor
President Bush nominated Mary E. Peters, former chief of the Federal Highway Administration, as the next secretary of transportation.
The DOT secretary is responsible for maintaining a safe, reliable and efficient transportation system, and plays an important role in guarding against terrorist attacks, Bush said.
"It is a job that requires vision and strong leadership. Mary Peters is the right person for this job," Bush said. "She brings a lifetime of experience on transportation issues, from both the private and public sectors."
Peters said that if she is confirmed by the Senate, she will work to decrease congestion in all the modes. "Today, our vital transportation infrastructure is showing signs of aging," she said. "In some cases, this is the result of systems and structures that are more suited to a bygone era than to the 21st century."
Peters would take the seat vacated July 7 by Norman Mineta, the longest-serving Secretary of Transportation. In the interim, DOT is being run by Acting Secretary Maria Cino.
Peters was federal highway administrator from 2001 until last November, when she left public service to join the engineering firm HDR Inc. Since then she has kept her hand in public affairs by serving as co-vice chairman of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. As DOT secretary she would continue to serve on that commission.
A fellow member of that commission, American Trucking Associations Chairman Pat Quinn, said, "I have been impressed with (Peters') insights into the challenges we face with maintaining and improving our nation's infrastructure. I hope for an early Senate confirmation process so we can all benefit from her strong leadership of our nation's transportation programs."
As federal highway administrator, Peters made her mark as a supporter of new approaches to highway funding – changes that are necessary, she has said, to stave off pending shortfalls from the current fuel and excise tax system. She was active in the drafting and passage of last year's landmark highway law (SAFETEA-LU), which among other things promotes tolls as a financing mechanism. And the national study commission she serves on is studying how to use private money to fund highways, as Indiana is doing by leasing the Indiana Toll Road to a private company.
Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Peters was with the Arizona Department of Transportation. She joined ADOT in 1985 and became director in 1998. She has a bachelor's degree in management from the University of Phoenix, and attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government program for state and local government executives at Harvard University.
