Dive Brief:
- President-elect Donald Trump has appointed surface transportation lobbyist Martin Whitmer to head up his transportation and infrastructure transition team, The New York Times reported.
- According to Curbed, some critics say that Trump's selection of Whitmer could indicate that his much-touted $1 trillion infrastructure plan could end up making traditional road and highway projects a priority over other public transit options.
- Whitmer has lobbied on behalf of groups like the Association of American Railroads and the National Asphalt Pavement Association. His industry achievements include helping to pass the FAST Act last year, which authorized approximately $205 billion for highways and $48 billion on transit projects.
Dive Insight:
Whoever is installed as the new Secretary of Transportation will face a country that is divided between embracing public transit alternatives like light-rail and traditional car transportation.
The most high-profile high-speed project in the country is California's bullet train, even though it has needed to overcome cost overruns, delays and public relations challenges since the planning stages. Experts say a major factor in the lack of successful bullet train projects in the U.S. is the fact that Americans might not be ready to embrace high-speed rail. Attorney Anthony Leones told Construction Dive earlier this year that U.S. residents love their automobiles, and in many parts of the country there is no culture of mass transit.
The new transportation head will also most likely play a key role in administering Trump's massive infrastructure plan, which is long on aspiration and short on detail thus far. The only solid information released about the $1 trillion plan so far is that it will offer the private sector an 82% credit on equity investment and that it will focus on fee-based projects like airports or utilities. Trump's advisors said such a plan would free up government spending for non-fee infrastructure projects like non-toll highways and bridges.
If the new secretary follows the surface-transportation preference shown by Whitmer, it would represent a significant change from the projects — like the Hyperloop — encouraged by outgoing Secretary Anthony Foxx. It would also influence which construction firms, depending on specialty, would see a spike in business if Trump's infrastructure plan comes to fruition.
