U.S. DOT Joins the Blogosphere

Posted by: Christian Madera
Thanks to: Ben Fried

4 May 2008 - 5:00am

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (or, more likely, her communications team) has taken up blogging, but the new PR outlet comes with a title that's not so friendly to all modes of transportation.

"On Tuesday, U.S. DOT unveiled 'Fast Lane,' a blog-type website supposedly authored by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. Whoever came up with the name, however, didn't do much to elevate the perception of Peters among transit and bike advocates, with whom she has a mixed record at best...

"While it's hard to take any PR from the administration at face value, to its credit, comments are enabled on the blog, and the moderators aren't screening out every bike-friendly suggestion that comes up.

"There are also a few unintentionally humorous touches, like the conceit that mayors, governors, and the secretary herself are actually writing these posts. A Flickr-style photo pool is full of un-captioned images, typically featuring Peters or some unnamed official inspecting/pointing at/riding on an unidentified piece of gear. This raises the question: When will we be able to friend the Secretary of Transportation on Facebook?"

Full Story: U.S. DOT Launches Official, Horribly-Named “Blog”

Source: Streetsblog, May 1, 2008