Secretary Pete’s Confirmation is Good News for Transportation — and the Heartland

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was confirmed Tuesday and sworn in yesterday as America’s new Secretary of Transportation. As someone who has worked with now-Secretary Pete from his mayoral bid in our hometown a decade ago through the presidential primaries last year, here are some reasons why I think he’ll be a transformational and forward-thinking secretary at USDOT.

He brings a generational perspective to the job

As one of the youngest Cabinet secretaries in American history, Secretary Pete will look at problems and opportunities in a fresh way. He was able to renew a strong sense of pride in South Bend by urging people to reimagine their city — its streets, its parks, its built environment, and its culture. He won’t get trapped in old ways of thought or doing things. Our country has a real shot to transform how we live and move (literally!) into this century, and Secretary Pete will bring unmatched vision to the role.

He’s from the Heartland

During the presidential cycle, Secretary Pete was one of the few candidates from the American Heartland aka the Rust Belt aka Flyover Country aka the Midwest. His home state of Indiana is known as “The Crossroads of America” and is the number one state in the country with pass-through highways. The Midwest will continue to be critical for advanced American transportation policy, connecting the populous East Coast with the expansive West Coast with new methods in logistics, high-speed rail, automated vehicles, and air travel.

He understands infrastructure and technology

Well known as a policy wonk, Secretary Pete puts a premium on innovative ideas that blend service delivery, user experience, technology, sustainability, and cost savings. Key examples in South Bend include his “Smart Streets” initiative, which reimagined the traffic flows and urban feel of the city center, Smart Sewers, which allowed the city to upload its water data to the cloud and prevent polluted water spills into the river, and his push for The Commuters Trust, a benefits program designed to improve commutes for local workers. Like many community leaders across the country, he was able to build upon a strong foundation to improve everyday life.

He knows that equity, jobs, and climate are critical

More and more Americans are rethinking how and where they work, especially since the Covid pandemic. In turn, more people are thinking about how they travel and how frequently. But transportation isn’t just getting from point A to point B. There needs to be more equity and fairness in transit and mobility, especially in the neighborhoods and communities that have been adversely affected over generations. Rural and farming communities need to be brought into conversations and policies because we all need to be more interconnected in our shared future. And finally, transportation policy needs to be developed alongside climate policy. There is a huge opportunity for a green and clean energy future — complete with good-paying jobs across the country.

He will think big about everything

On the campaign trail, Secretary Pete put a premium on policies that were thoughtful, detailed, intersectional, and perhaps primarily — bold. In his first remarks to the department, he was true to form by urging everyone to bring “imaginative, bold, forward-thinking” to work each day. There is a tremendous moment right now in our country for Americans to reimagine how they commute, travel, move around their neighborhoods and communities, and work each day. A large number of Americans want the government to work for them again and transportation and infrastructure will be a key component of giving people more confidence, and more hope.

In closing, Secretary Pete is a history-making public servant who is skilled at bringing people together to find common ground. Transportation is set to be one of the biggest policy areas for decades to come and change how people live their lives all around the world. His experience, vision, focus, fresh-thinking, and yes — Midwesterness — will suit him well for the job.