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AASHTO Elects New President, Pete Rahn of Missouri10-26-07 | News

AASHTO Elects New President, Pete Rahn of Missouri




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Washington, DC—Pete Rahn, the Director of the Missouri Department of Transportation and a former Director of the New Mexico Department of Transportation, was elected Monday as President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) which represents the state departments of transportation in Washington, DC. The AASHTO Board of Directors also elected Allen Biehler, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, as Vice-President for 2007?EUR??,,????'???2008. Both officers?EUR??,,????'??? terms will run through the Board of Directors meeting of the next AASHTO Annual Meeting. In remarks to AASHTO?EUR??,,????'???s 52 member chief executive officers shortly after his election, Rahn noted that the United States is losing ground to other nations as they invest strongly in their transportation infrastructure, even as the U.S. delays investment in a long-superior but deteriorating surface-transportation system.

?EUR??,,????'??We have been lazy as a nation,?EUR??,,????'?? Rahn said. ?EUR??,,????'??The citizens of our states have been permitted to have the wages they receive because of the U.S. transportation system?EUR??,,????'???s efficiencies.?EUR??,,????'?? Without further investment in transportation, Americans cannot safely assume their economic security will continue, he said. Rahn also outlined three emphasis areas for AASHTO in the coming year, plus two other areas he hopes will be made priorities by the organization. The emphasis areas are: AASHTO must be a champion for transportation investment in every state. That will require an extensive?EUR??,,????'??+and potentially expensive?EUR??,,????'??+public-education campaign, but if the chief executives of the state transportation departments won?EUR??,,????'???t champion that cause, Rahn asked, who will?

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