DOT Initiatives to Proceed Despite Exit, Mineta Says

otentially controversial initiatives aimed at reducing congestion and changing the structure of highway financing that Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta launched before his recent departure will keep moving forward, Mineta told Transport Topics in a July 6 interview.

“Both in terms of the congestion policy that we announced and the work of the policy and revenue commission, I think those are both very firmly embedded in the DNA of the department now,” Mineta said, just a day before officially leaving the department he headed for five-and-a-half years.

Mineta said DOT’s congestion plan, which seeks greater use of private capital in infrastructure investment and other financing tools, has drawn “a good response from stakeholders and Congress. We have had a great deal of interest expressed by states and local governments on the congestion issue. I think that it is going to move forward.”