Mixed welcome for Trump’s nomination for US Transportation Secretary

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has welcomed Donald Trump’s nomination of Elaine Chao for Transportation Secretary. "This is a step in the right direction as former labour secretary Chao previously served in key leadership positions at the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and in the private sector. She realises the challenges facing the transportation system and how it affects individual businesses and communities and the nation as a whole," said Jeffrey F. Paniati, ITE executive
December 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The 5667 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has welcomed Donald Trump’s nomination of Elaine Chao for Transportation Secretary.

"This is a step in the right direction as former labour secretary Chao previously served in key leadership positions at the 324 US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and in the private sector. She realises the challenges facing the transportation system and how it affects individual businesses and communities and the nation as a whole," said Jeffrey F. Paniati, ITE executive director and CEO. "ITE looks forward to continuing our work with USDOT to help serve all users of the transportation system."

However, the Insurance Journal claimed that her record as secretary of labour suggested she might have a light hand when it comes to safety regulation as head of the Transportation Department and would seek to shift responsibility from the federal government to states where possible. It claimed her record suggests she would be sceptical of new safety regulations and may attempt to roll back existing regulations.

Announcing her nomination, Trump said, “Secretary Chao’s extensive record of strong leadership and her expertise are invaluable assets in our mission to rebuild our infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner.”

“The President-elect has outlined a clear vision to transform our country’s infrastructure, accelerate economic growth and productivity, and create good paying jobs across the country,” Chao said in a statement released with Trump’s announcement.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS advancement lays beyond benefit-cost analysis
    May 29, 2013
    Shelley Row, former Director of the US Department of Transportation’s ITS Joint Program Office, gives her views on the way forward for the industry. We, as intelligent transportation system (ITS) proponents and engineers, tend to be overly fixated on benefit-cost data. We want decisions to be made on logical grounds for which benefit-cost calculations are optimal. While benefit-cost data is necessary, it is not always sufficient. We can learn from our history where we see three broad groups of ITS deploymen
    Read More
  • US Automated Vehicle Framework to 'slash red tape'
    May 7, 2025
    NHTSA insists safety will be prioritised and 'unnecessary' regulation removed
    Read More
  • Turning information into stories
    April 16, 2018
    IBTTA says its TollMiner tool can transform transportation planning. Here, the tolling organisation explains how it works – and what part it might play in Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan. Imagine being able to turn the black-and-white numbers in a spreadsheet into graphics and visualisations that tell a compelling story about essential transportation infrastructure. Having easy access to the solid, reliable data you need to plan surface transportation projects and assign project resources based on
    Read More
  • ARTBA president: what happened to the hoverboards?
    October 28, 2019
    What keeps Dave Bauer up at night? David Arminas caught up with the head of ARTBA at his Washington, DC office during daylight hours Dave Bauer doesn’t really have many sleepless nights. He might sleep, though, with one eye open, just in case. “We have become a much more divided country politically,” says Bauer, president of ARTBA – American Road and Transportation Builders Association. “Whether you are thinking about federal government, or state or local government, there’s a hostility now in our politi
    Read More

Highlighted Content