The road ahead...

I usually try to work some sort of bad transit or train pun into my titles, but today, I'll very consciously play the asphalt card. Why? Because unless newly-nominated Transportation Secretary Mary Peters brings some new thinking to the US DOT, asphalt is all we have to look forward to.

Jon Talton, a columnist with the Arizona Republic, has some experience with Peters. She headed up the Arizona Department of Transportation, and as Talton points out, earned the respect of pretty much everyone she worked with.

Mary Peters... brings bipartisan praise and a solid resumé. James Matteson, the retired Phoenix transportation director, worked with Peters when she was head of the Arizona Department of Transportation. He calls her "a very good manager and one who understands the political process, unlike many in my profession." Peters "proved that a non-engineer can be a great manager of engineering activities."

But as Talton wisely points out, Peter's is faced with a far greater challenge than simply being a good manager. Instead she must fill the leadership gap that the president and congress have so irresponsibly abdicated. But even if she found teh courage to strike out on her own and spearhead a new effort to rethink America's transportation system, she faces some of the most ideologically entrenched interests - on both sides of the political ailse - that American politics has ever known. And it begins at the front door of the White House.

If the president could leave ideology at the door, he could create an admirable legacy by focusing on the Transportation Department's stated mission of "ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future."

There should be plenty of room for conservative ideas, such as toll roads, pricing specific highways based on congestion and giving states more flexibility in making public-private partnerships.

At the same time, rebuilding the intercity rail system should be a national priority. High-speed rail corridors in heavily populated regions would ease congestion on both highways and in the air. Existing corridors in the northeast, Pacific Northwest, California and elsewhere are already successful.

We'll see what the November elections bring, and if the outcome has any affect on the direction of transportation policy in Washington. And we'll be waiting to see what kind of opening hand Mary Peters plays if she is confirmed this month.