 |
| Since Elaine Chao took charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation, I've noticed a strong resemblance between the agency's Navy Yard headquarters and a Borg Cube (Photo by me) |
Elaine
Chao’s Department of Transportation is currently withholding $1.4 billion in
congressionally- and presidentially-authorized funding for transit improvements.
This continued withholding, which received substantial media
attention this week following Transportation for America’s unveiling of its
“stuck in the station” clock,
threatens the viability of many badly needed infrastructure projects
nationwide. Many commentators suspect that this is a deliberate effort by Chao,
who worked for the Koch Brothers-funded Heritage Foundation prior to her
appointment as DOT secretary, to derail the projects and continue to restrict peoples’
transportation options.
In
contrast to some observers, I’m confident that Chao will release the funds
soon. But this is not all good news, and it’s not even a new strategy for her –
she’s made a habit of turning obligation of funds for projects that had seemed
done deals, including the Maryland
Purple Line and electrification
of Caltrain, into months-long wars. Furthermore, she withheld
5 percent of Fiscal Year 2017 funds from every single large urban transit system
in Maryland, Virginia, and DC, purportedly due to issues establishing a new
safety oversight commission for a single rail system.
Chao
may wish she could shift all of the money to roads, or just spend the taxpayer
dollars on her own outings to popular attractions near her agency’s
headquarters such as Nationals Park, Audi Field, and Bluejacket
Brewing. But though she knows she could never get away with pocketing the
cash, she still has great potential to harm multimodal transportation’s future,
for two main reasons:
- When the funds are finally released, transit advocates will celebrate pyrrhic victories after a long battle to make sure should-be no-brainer projects happen. Meanwhile, other proposals that deserve serious cost-benefit analysis will go forgotten.
- Due to increasing prices for steel and labor, among other issues, project costs will rise due to the delays. Transit opponents will then cite these cost overruns as a result of government inefficiency in their efforts to justify cancellation of other would-be beneficial projects when, in fact, their own allies caused the overruns.
To make sure Chao can’t cause long-term
harm, we need to keep the pressure on
In
contrast to other high-level Trump Administration officials, Chao, a longtime
Washington insider and the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has
largely managed to stay quiet and out of the spotlight. This allows her to
pursue her goals with relative ease.
This
may make her the cabinet member most likely to cause long-term harm to our
country. Chao may have more cabinet experience than the likes of Ben Carson or
Betsy DeVos, but she’s no less of a threat to the people. Her objective, as the
GOP’s 2016 platform clearly describes, is to eliminate
funding for all service transportation other than driving, taking away our
freedom to choose how we get around. If she succeeds, we will all suffer.
We might
not be able to change Chao, but we can make sure she’s not allowed to operate
in the shadows any longer. Transportation for America’s efforts have given us a
strong start to build on, but even once she releases the latest round of long-withheld
funds we can’t let her off the hook.
From
now on, I’ll be closely watching – and regularly reporting on – DOT’s
management of multimodal transportation funds. Also, every time I happen to be
near her agency’s headquarters, I’ll post to social media (as I’ve made a habit
of recently) to make sure people remain aware of what’s going on in Chao’s
Castle. I suggest you all do the same.
If
all goes well, maybe Trump will bid farewell to Chao with his iconic “you’re
fired,” and finally commit to the multimodal infrastructure improvements he
promised voters during his campaign. But I’m not holding my breath.
No comments:
Post a Comment