Mendez Picked to Run FHWA; Hurley Nominated for NHTSA

This story appears in the April 13 print edition of Transport Topics.

President Obama last week nominated Victor Mendez, former head of the Arizona Department of Transportation, to lead the Federal Highway Administration and Charles Hurley, a longtime safety advocate, to run the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The White House also announced Obama’s intention to nominate administrators for the Research and Innovative Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration.

None of the nominations has been submitted formally to the Senate, and confirmation hearings have yet to be scheduled. The president also has not yet selected a nominee to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Mendez, who served on the Obama transition team, “has extensive experience in transportation, including innovations in the areas of funding and financing, technology, infrastructure, research, planning and internal operations,” according to the White House release.

As FHWA administrator, Mendez would oversee the entire federal highway program, guiding policies on every issue from truck size-and-weight limits to highway funding mechanisms.

Highway user groups praised the choice of Mendez, who ran the Arizona DOT from 2001 to 2008.

“I think he’s a good pick because he knows about highways and transportation, and he is a thoughtful person, not an ideologue,” said Greg Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance. “Certainly in a political position, you can have someone who really knows the subject or you can havesomeone who is more of a friend through political circles, and he’s the former.”

John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, called Mendez’s nomination “an outstanding choice.”

“He brings an in-depth knowledge of transportation gained on the front lines of a state DOT, which will be invaluable as we look to reform and improve the way we provide transportation for America,” he said.

In 2007, Mendez served as president of AASHTO.

Karen Rasmussen, president of the Arizona Trucking Association, told Transport Topics her group had a productive relationship with Mendez during his time at Arizona DOT. She cited his knowledge of the infrastructure challenges facing the nation.

“He’s got a good understanding of highway funding and the options that are out there,” Rasmussen said, “and he has an engineering background, so he gets that aspect of it as well.”

Hurley, the White House’s pick to lead NHTSA, had been chief executive officer of Mothers Against Drunk Driving for the past four years. He also previously held positions with the National Safety Council and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

As NHTSA administrator, Hurley would oversee such trucking issues as speed limiters, equipment standards and the stopping-distance regulation.

Hurley’s nomination was praised by Vernon Betkey Jr., chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association. He called Hurley “a passionate safety advocate whose career has been dedicated to reducing motor vehicle deaths and injuries on the highways.”

Also on April 8, the White House said Obama planned to nominate Peter Rogoff to head the Federal Transit Administration.

Rogoff, a member of the Democratic staff on the Senate Appropriations Committee, “is an acknowledged expert in the area of federal infrastructure budgeting and finance, having had an active role in the financing of each of the last three comprehensive surface transportation reauthorization bills,” the White House announcement said.

Obama also has nominated Peter Appel to head the Research and Innovative Technology Administration in the DOT.

Appel, a principal with the global management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney Inc., “has over 20 years of experience in transportation and has supported organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline and ocean shipping industries,” the White House said.