AASHTO Journal, 25 July 2014
After serving in these high-level U.S. Department of Transportation positions in the interim for the last several months, the Senate on Thursday officially confirmed Victor Mendez as USDOT Deputy Secretary and Peter Rogoff as USDOT Under Secretary of Policy. The Senate confirmed both men for their positions by voice vote.
“We heartily congratulate Deputy Secretary Mendez and Under Secretary Rogoff on their confirmations,” said Bud Wright, AASHTO Executive Director. “Victor and Peter have well served this country over already distinguished careers, working toward a safer and more robust transportation system. We are honored to work alongside them to continue a longstanding relationship with the state departments of transportation.”
Mendez was first tapped to serve as Acting Deputy Secretary in December 2013 upon John Porcari’s departure (see related AASHTO Journal story here). Mendez, a former American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials president, previously served as Federal Highway Administrator, a role he began in July 2009. Prior to his time with FHWA, Mendez gained plenty of state transportation department experience as Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, where he oversaw the construction of the Regional Freeway System in Phoenix (delivered six years ahead of schedule). While serving at a state level, Mendez spent a year as President of AASHTO, where he also chaired its Standing Committee on Research, the Operations Council of the Standing Committee on Highways (now the Transportation Systems Operations and Management Subcommittee), and the oversight group for the Transportation Research Board’s Long-Term Pavement Performance program.
Rogoff was named interim USDOT Under Secretary of Policy in January after Polly Trottenberg’s move to lead the New York City Department of Transportation (see related AASHTO Journal story here). Before then, Rogoff led the Federal Transit Administration, a position for which he was confirmed in May 2009. It was there that Rogoff led the agency through major investments in public transit projects across the country. Before coming to FTA, Rogoff was a staff member on the Senate Appropriations committee for 22 years, 14 of which were spent as the Democratic Staff Director of the Transportation Subcommittee.