TRANSPORTATION POLICY: SO FAR, SO GOOD.

AuthorPoole, Robert, Jr.

IN ITS FIRST year, the Donald Trump administration has appointed good people and enunciated market-oriented principles on transportation policy. But the acid test will come when we see how much congressional support can be won for the president's forthcoming infrastructure plan.

Since "people are policy," transportation-related appointments count as a positive. Elaine Chao as Department of Transportation (DOT) head and D.J. Gribbin as White House infrastructure sherpa are highly qualified choices with sound policy ideas. Other senior appointees also look good.

Early on, the White House endorsed an effort to "corporatize" the poorly run Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control system, which raised that reform's priority with House GOP leadership. But this further politicized the issue for Democrats in Congress, and if the lower chamber passes the bill, there is still no Senate counterpart.

In January, the administration is expected to release a 75-page infrastructure proposal. It is likely to build on a six-page fact sheet released in May--a document that made the radical suggestion that the federal government's current role is far out of proportion to the fact that most public-serving infrastructure is owned and operated by state and local governments and doesn't touch on national interests.

Four key...

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