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NYC Women To Fill Key Positions In Biden's Transportation Agencies
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Stephen Nessen
Published Jan 28, 2021
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Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jan 28, 2021
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When President Joe Biden ran for office he pledged to make his cabinet the most diverse in history, and he appears to be making good on that promise, particularly at high-level transportation agencies, where he’s drafted from New York City’s top female leadership.
The number of hires from NYC is a sign that the city continues to be a place where women can ascend to high ranks, but local transit watchers say so many of these women heading to Washington is a major milestone. These hires will offer an injection of fresh perspectives to what has been a traditionally staid, male-dominated sector. And there’s hope that with so many locals at the federal level the city might get more federal support.
At the top of the list of new hires is Polly Trottenberg, former commissioner of the Department of Transportation, who was appointed deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation, the number-two post, responsible for 55,000 employees and overseeing an $80 billion annual budget.
“Polly brings this fantastic ability to listen to all sides of the issue and make a measured and confident decision,” Sarah Kaufman, Associate Director of NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, told Gothamist. ”There are a lot of perspectives to balance as the head of the New York City Department of Transportation, and she did that balancing act quite well, like a gymnast.”
Meera Joshi, the former Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commissioner, was tapped to be deputy administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
“One of her major contributions is the use of data and expectation of data sharing,” Kaufman said. “It’s important in keeping the major companies like Uber and Lyft responsible and to ensure fair pricing and equity of services across the city.”
There’s also Nuria Fernandez, the former COO of the MTA, who was appointed Deputy Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, and Diana Lopez, who worked for New York’s Empire State Development Corporation and the Gateway Program, who will be a senior advisor at the FTA as well.
Dani Simons, who worked for the city’s transportation department during Bloomberg’s term, and is credited with launching the Summer Streets program, has been hired as the assistant to the DOT Secretary Pete Buttiegieg and director of public affairs.
“What she brings to the national environment is really getting us to rethink our streets in ways that we never thought were possible,” Kaufman said. “She gets us to get out of cars, to get out of the subway, and see our home cities from a whole new perspective, so if she can do that for the whole country I think we would all be better off for it.”
And, according to the Biden administration, there are more appointments to come.
“This is just the beginning,” said a spokesperson for the US Department of Transportation in a statement.”There are more folks joining us over the next few weeks, and together these experienced, talented, diverse leaders will help us create a more equitable, sustainable transportation system that serves the nation.”
Listen to reporter Stephen Nessen's radio story for WNYC:
“There’s never been a US Department of Transportation that’s this diverse and has the next generation of talent and talented women in leadership roles,” said John Pocari, the former deputy secretary in the Obama administration’s DOT who also served on Biden’s transition team. “It’s a reflection of the values and diversity of the Democratic party, but more broadly it’s a reflection of the work that’s happened within transportation to make sure the next generation of leaders is ready to take the reins.”
Kaufman points out that these appointments are likely to have real-world consequences. Women, she said, make up 55 percent of public transit ridership but only account for 35 percent of the workforce. Of the top 40 transit agencies in the country, only seven are headed by women. With women in charge, there’s a different perspective on what policies are necessary and needed.
“I think you see that women are really the indicator species of the health of streets,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, the former head of New York City’s Department of Transportation under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “And if they don’t feel safe in the [bike] lanes, there’s probably a lot of things going wrong. And their absence or presence from the streets is telling you something important and we need that view in our planning, we need that view from women in the street, and from the women in charge.”
Sadik-Khan is credited with breaking through stiff opposition to install a connected network of bike lanes, bringing Citibike to the city, and remaking Times Square. In doing so, she paved the way for a whole generation of women working in transit, not just through her experience, but also through a mentorship program she started at the Women's Transportation Seminar [WTS] to help women working in the transit industry.
Keri Cibelli, the president for the Greater New York Chapter of WTS and senior technical director at AKRF, an environmental planning and engineering firm, said the glass ceiling remains intact despite the large number of women working in transportation.
“There’s still the good ol’ boys club, and typically women aren’t out on the golf course, so it’s nice to see these women making a difference and having our voices heard,” she said.
But Sadik-Khan believes the road forward is being blazed by women in transit: “Women aren’t just at the heart of this fight, they’re the ones that are leading the revolution.”
She pointed to two recent examples: Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris, who created hundreds of miles of bike lanes during the pandemic and Mayor Claudia Lopez in Bogota, who’s remaking city streets and building the city’s first subway.
Tagged
dot
polly trottenberg
President Biden
janette sadik-khan
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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