(Source: Washington Post & AASHTO)

Maryland Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari has been tapped to join the Obama administration. (Photo by Post)

John Porcari, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, is President Barack Obama’s choice to become the next Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Maryland’s secretary of transportation John D. Porcari will serve as Ray LaHood‘s deputy if confirmed by the Senate. He first served as Maryland’s transportation chief from 1999 to 2002, leading the development and construction of two high-profile transportation projects in the greater Washington region. He led the planning and start of the Intercounty Connectorbetween Montgomery and Prince Georges County, Md., and the development and funding to reconstruct the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, a critical piece of Washington’s infamous Beltway that connects Maryland with Virginia. In between two tours of duty at Maryland DOT, he served as the chief administrative and financial officer at the University of Maryland.

In his current position, Mr. Porcari is responsible for motor vehicle registration and the highway, transit, aviation, and maritime modes of the state’s transportation system. Mr. Porcari also serves as chairman of the entity responsible for operating the state’s bridge and tunnel facilities. He’s in his second tour as Secretary, having previously served in this capacity from 1999 to 2002.

(Source: Washington Post)

 WASHINGTON — Lying on her chest in a small crawl space, Staff Sgt. Dana Fernkas watches the gray Air Force jet emerge from the clouds and ease up just behind the rear window in the belly of her plane.

(Source: Washington Post)

(Source:  Washington Post)

Here’s a look at what drivers will encounter during the construction phase of Virginia DOT’s HOT lanes project at the Braddock Road interchange.  The project will create special lanes on the Beltway open to high-occupancy vehicles, or those willing to pay a toll.

(Source: Washington Post)

Metro knocked down one of the bigger barriers to competition in the D.C. area’s wireless-phone market Friday afternoon by announcing thatall four nationwide wireless carriers would offer service in its subway stations and tunnels.

The  Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s press release led off with words that many Metro riders have been waiting for years to read: “Metro riders will be able to call home from any cell phone.”

Today, the only signal to reach Metro’s underground stretches comes from Verizon Wireless; Sprint users can roam on that signal, but AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile subscribers are out of luck. It’s an awkward little detail that I’ve had make part of my standard guidance to people shopping for wireless-phone service.

That Friday-afternoon release went on to explain that Metro’s board approved an agreement with AT&T Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon to “build a new wireless infrastructure in the underground rail system during the next four years.” The first results will appear pretty soon:

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Washington Post)

In the viability plans General Motors and Chrysler submitted to support their federal aid requests, the companies pledged to try to meet new fuel economy standards. 

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