Janet F. Kavinoky, Director of Transportation Infrastructure, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Biography provided by participant
Janet F. Kavinoky is the Director of Transportation Infrastructure in the Congressional and Public Affairs division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She is the Chamber's senior lobbyist and policy director on all transportation issues and leads the Chamber's "Let's Rebuild America" initiative advocating the need to modernize and expand our nation's transportation, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure. In this role, Janet oversees the development of the initiative's goals and strategies and is frequently a featured speaker at infrastructure events all around the country, drawing needed attention to our nation's infrastructure challenges. Kavinoky is also the Executive Director of the Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM) coalition, a national business-labor-construction industry coalition seeking maximum Federal investment in transportation systems.
Prior to joining the Chamber, Janet worked at the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) specializing in infrastructure funding and financing, and she spent four years at the U.S. Department of Transportation rising to the position of Special Assistant to the Secretary.
Kavinoky has a bachelor's degree in political economy from the University of Wyoming, and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
The Chamber recognizes that reforms and responsibility are needed so that this nation can rebuild the platform that American businesses need to thrive and that people require for a high quality of life. The Chamber's board has called on Congress to reform federal policies and programs around a strong, yet focused, federal role that supports addressing national needs including: • Improve safety to reduce crashes, injuries, deaths and property damage; • Keeping freight moving reliably and cost-effectively on the schedules that customers demand; • Getting the gridlock out of our cities; • Connecting rural America to the global economy; and,… Read more
No. Reducing VMT per capita is but one strategy to achieve goals such as enhanced mobility, improved air quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and lower energy consumption. In some geographies, such as the Rocky Mountain west and my home state of Wyoming, it is not appropriate or practical. In some industries, including retail that relies on trucks for delivery, it is not plausible. Not only is it a strategy that doesn’t work everywhere, it also implies restricting the freedom to travel. So while reducing VMT per capital may sound like a reasonable goal – especially if one is of the school that roads have been… Read more
At the end of the day, the decision on what to do about extensions should be made so that the thousands of businesses and their employees can keep doing the construction, design, engineering, operations, maintenance, and financing to improve the physical platform of our economy in a way that maximizes the productive capacity of this country. It is also important that any extension maintains the link between user funding and Federal transportation programs. This is the essential foundation of contract authority, which is what allows multi-year investments through the Federal government. (By the way, is it just me, or contemplating… Read more
The successor to SAFETEA-LU is only one piece of a complex set of laws and regulations that have to be coordinated with one another in order to accommodate future freight transportation demand. Strictly speaking, the principal role of the next surface transportation bill with regard to freight is setting the goals, establishing the programs and providing adequate funding for the maintenance, modernization and expansion of the Interstate and National Highway Systems, and the roads that connect to border crossings, ports (sea, inland waterway, Great Lakes, and air) and distribution facilities across the country. Instead of simply spreading around money like… Read more
There is no shortage of good commentary this week from my fellow bloggers - as well as common threads. I think three of the themes can be instructive for Congress as they address a myriad of transportation bills this year. The fact that many other countries are seeking to optimize transportation infrastructure spending across all modes - or regardless of mode. (Matt Rose, Steve Heminger) I say repeatedly to audiences that businesses focus on optimizing the way they get product from point A to B, or drawing from the best pool of people. Individuals are focused on their end goal, whether commuting to… Read more
There are thousands of “ready to go” transit, highway, aviation, water, and other infrastructure projects worth tens of billions of dollars awaiting funding. Many of these projects could be initiated in the short run to preserve and create jobs and generate economic activity. So the U.S. Chamber believes that investment in ready-to-go projects should be a key component of any stimulus package. There is no question that infrastructure investment supports jobs. It directly puts people to work in construction. At a time when unemployment in construction is higher than in any other sector of the economy - at 10.8 percent up from 6.1 percent a… Read more
Biography provided by participant
