President Bush has chosen Mary Peters, onetime federal highway administrator, to be Norman Mineta's successor as United States secretary of transportation. Head of the Federal Highway Administration from 2001 to 2005, Peters is now national director for transportation policy and consulting at the engineering company HDR Inc.
Before directing the FHWA, Peters served 16 years with the Arizona Department of Transportation. Her nomination as transportation secretary first must be approved by the US Senate.
The chairman of the American Trucking Associations, Pat Quinn, praised the nomination.
“I have had the pleasure of serving with Mary Peters on the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission and have been impressed with her insights into the challenges we face with maintaining and improving our nation's infrastructure,” said Quinn. “I hope for an early Senate confirmation process so we can all benefit from her strong leadership of our nation's transportation programs.”