Mineta Calls for Stronger FHWA If Congress Won't OK Truck Office

Former congressman Norman Mineta recommends keeping motor carrier safety oversight within the Federal Highway Administration and giving it more resources, including additional senior staff.

"I'm saying beef up FHWA," Mineta told a congressional panel, after completing an independent review of truck and bus safety. He also said FHWA should be renamed Federal Highway and Motor Carrier Safety, thus raising the safety profile.

He doubts Congress would approve creation of a separate modal administration for motor carriers, which would be the 11th such office in the Department of Transportation.

"You get the same amount of benefit in beefing up FHWA without the expense of creating a new agency," Mineta said at a May 26 hearing of the House Ground Transportation Subcommittee. "The only reason I don't support going to a separate agency is because of the cost involved."

Mineta once chaired the subcommittee himself, and rose to head what used to be called the House Public Works and Transportation Committee. The Republican changed the name to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee when they took control in 1995. Later that year, Mineta resigned his seat.

In February, Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater asked Mineta to thoroughly review the state of safety oversight and develop recommendations on what changes, if any, should be made. Slater's request was prompted by congressional debate over whether to move jurisdiction of motor carrier from the highway agency to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In his report to Congress last week, Mineta made 36 recommendations on how to enhance motor carrier safety.

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