Porcari Slotted for DOT Deputy

President Obama picked a Maryland official with two tours of experience running that state’s multi-modal transportation department for the second-highest job at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

John D. Porcari will take the deputy secretary job just below DOT Secretary Raymond LaHood, subject to Senate confirmation.

He has been secretary of the Maryland DOT since January 2007, and before that from 1999 to 2002. There, he is, responsible for highway, transit, aviation, maritime and motor vehicle operations, in a state that has sizable facilities for every type of freight operation. Porcari also chairs a state entity that runs Maryland bridges and tunnels.

His list of big projects include helping develop a major new inter-country highway route north of Washington, and the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge across the Potomac River to Virginia on Interstate 95. Porcari’s DOT tours also immersed him in issues involving mass transit, seaport and freight railroad systems and an international airport.

In between his times running the state DOT, Porcari was the chief administrative and financial officer at the University of Maryland.

Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.