Reorganize DOT, Says Policy Group

Support for a significant reorganization of the Department of Transportation along intermodal or even “mode-neutral” lines is growing in Washington as pressure mounts to produce a surface transportation bill by a Sept. 30 deadline.

Certain members of Congress and Washington think tanks would like to strain the alphabet soup of modal agencies at the DOT through a legislative colander and realign the cabinet-level department to suit a broader set of federal policies and priorities.

The latest call for a shakeup at DOT comes from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project, a group led by former members of Congress that includes shipper and carrier representatives as well as government and foundation officials.

“The U.S. DOT should be reorganized and more closely linked with other federal agencies” to reflect federal economic, energy and environmental goals, the NTPP said in its final report on U.S. transportation policy, released June 9 in Washington.

That will require internal reforms reaching across the department’s modal administrations. “The organizational structure of DOT should reflect the reorientation of transportation programs around broader national goals,” the NTPP report said.

It says a good first step would be high-level “modal coordinating mechanisms” that link agencies such as the Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, Maritime Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The NTPP’s proposals come very close to reforms House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., wants in the next highway bill.

For more on this story, see "Report Calls for New Direction for Transport Policy" and "Oberstar: Highway Bill to Redesign DOT."

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.