2. USE OF DISCRETIONARY GRANTS TO PUSH FREIGHT PROJECTS
LaHood’s “stewardship” of stimulus funding allocated through the Transportation
Investment Generating Economic Recovery program instilled trust in congressional
appropriators. Three more rounds of TIGER followed, pumping $3.1 billion into
transportation infrastructure projects total, although the future of the program is
now in doubt.
3. INTERMODAL RAIL PUSH
LaHood hasn’t shied away from his fondness for intermodal rail transport, and the
DOT displayed its intermodal backing by favoring projects that sped the shipment
of containerized goods through rail. LaHood’s support has raised the mode’s profile
on the Hill.
4. RAISED PROFILE OF PORTS AND MARITIME CONNECTIONS
Ports, short-sea shipping and inland waterways have long been the redheaded
stepchild of the transportation world. LaHood elevated their status by pushing
TIGER funding toward such projects, setting the stage for Obama’s fast-tracking of
seven infrastructure projects connected to the Panama Canal expansion.
5. AN EYE ON TRUCK SAFETY
Trucking’s regulatory landscape changed in deep and perhaps permanent ways
under LaHood, whose dogged attack on distracted driving was reflected in his
pursuit of several trucking-related initiatives (including a nationwide truck driver
texting ban). The CSA effort, for example, may have a greater impact on domestic
transportation than any individual DOT rulemaking.
6. LOADS AND “LIVABILITY”
Few LaHood initiatives drew as much scorn from freight transportation advocates
as attempts to make “livability” a key part of transportation plans and projects. But
the DOT looked beyond cyclists and pedestrians as part of its more multimodal
approach to reduce congestion, blending urban, environmental and transportation
planning and coordinating policy with other agencies.
