前进

波莉·特罗滕贝格，1986年 奥巴马不是华盛顿特区的新成员.C. 她在公共部门有超过25年的工作经验, 她为担任交通部副部长做好了充分的准备. 但这并不会减少新工作的乐趣. “It’s always a thrill to be nominated to serve in a prominent role in a field that you love,Trottenberg说, 从她在D的新家打来电话.C. “我能告诉你什么呢? 这是一生的荣幸.”

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Trottenberg arrives this time in Washington after seven years as the commissioner of the 纽约市 Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) — one of the largest municipal 运输 departments in the country, 跨越6,000名员工和数十亿美元的预算. 在此之前，她曾担任美国外交部长.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) undersecretary for policy under President Obama and was a 运输 policy advisor for Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 查克•舒默(charles Schumer), 芭芭拉·鲍克瑟.

除了她广泛的成功之外, Trottenberg brings to the table an earnest desire to design cities to best serve the people who live in them — a passion she developed during her time as a student at Barnard.

特罗滕贝格的家离学校不到一个小时的路程, 就在城外威彻斯特县的佩勒姆镇. “我希望有机会去纽约，”Trottenberg说. “纽约市 has always been a place that young people want to go to, and I was one of them.”

体验这座城市的渴望激发了Trottenberg, 历史专业, 探索的不仅仅是晨边高地. One of her favorite things to do was walk the whole length of Manhattan with her friends — seeing, 她的笑话, 每隔10到20个街区就有一家Chock full o 'Nuts咖啡店. “The most amazing thing about 纽约市 is that just walking the streets is so fascinating and incredible. 而且是免费的，”Trottenberg说. “我的意思是, 有钱去纽约做所有其他令人惊奇的事情是很好的, 但这座城市非常迷人.”

纽约的街道点燃了人们对城市的兴趣, 运输, 以及大学毕业后对Trottenberg的政治支持, 当她读到 权力掮客 作者罗伯特·卡罗(Robert Caro)，被认为是许多研究交通政策的人的开创性著作. “It’s a book that resonates to this day as we grapple with the legacy of racism in our country, 以及我们城市中种族隔离的遗留问题, 以及我们对社区投资的选择, 我们停在哪里了,Trottenberg说, 谁回忆起当上纽约交通运输局局长后重读了这本书.

特别是, the college-age Trottenberg was struck by a chapter on the contested construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway. 由罗伯特·摩西构思，建于1948年至1972年间, the expressway destroyed neighborhoods in the South Bronx and is seen as one of the root causes of poverty and decline in the Bronx during that era. “这一章是如此令人心碎，因为有太多的方式, 即使你下定决心要修那条公路, 你本可以用更小的破坏性来做这件事,Trottenberg说. “我在几英里外长大，但我不知道那里的不可思议的历史.”

What resulted from that first brush with urban policy and planning is a public servant focused on people and the dynamic ways they move through their cities, 这也是Trottenberg在纽约交通运输部面临的挑战. 在一个8.500万人生活在300平方英里的社区里, 从城市深处到郊区, crafting effective 运输 policy necessitates listening to and balancing interests from all corners of the island and its boroughs. 如果处理得当, Trottenberg说, 这是一种独一无二的体验, 你的工作对人们的影响在哪里.

“你可以实时看到自己的作品, 你真的可以对人们的生活产生更好的影响,她说。. “Having the chance to be a public servant and be part of the life of a great city is an incomparable experience.”

其中一些改变生活的项目包括“零愿景”, a landmark city initiative to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries; a robust expansion of the city’s bike lanes and bike share program; and the renovation and repair of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE).

米切尔·莫斯(Mitchell Moss)是纽约大学Robert F. Wagner 研究生 School of 公共服务 and the 直接or of the university’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & 管理部门称BQE是纽约交通系统面临的最大挑战之一. “It was her courage to take on a problem, which other people had kind of tried to bypass,莫斯说。.

但众所周知，特罗腾伯格能完成这项工作. “她比任何人都更了解如何起草立法, 如何执行政策, 以及如何与立法者合作,莫斯说。. “无论她走到哪里，她都赢得了所有与她共事的人的尊重.”

虽然BQE对Trottenberg来说是一个挑战，但这并不是她在纽约交通运输部最大的挑战. That would come in her last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the city overnight. 除了迅速重新设计和调整机构的工作方式, Trottenberg and her team fielded calls from the city council and the public for the city to allow streets to be blocked off for safe, 社交距离使用.

得到的程序, 开放的街道, was piloted just four days after the official pandemic pause order from the governor’s office, 在经历了Trottenberg所说的“巨大的”学习经历之后. (The program went on hiatus 11 days later to spend a short month recalibrating before becoming a permanent fixture of 纽约市 life.)

更具变革性的是Open Restaurants, which launched in June 2020 with an ambitious plan to allow businesses to self-certify their eligibility for curb lane and sidewalk seating. “这是我整个职业生涯中最大的一次信念飞跃,Trottenberg在谈到自我认证的决定时说. “这可能是我做过的最让我失眠的事情.找出如何安全运行程序的方法, Trottenberg estimates her team put together a plan that would have taken five years to hammer out in nonpandemic times.

在疫情期间，开放式餐厅使许多城市场所免于倒闭, 在纽约人似乎没什么希望的时候，它给了他们希望. 但是对于Trottenberg来说, the real magic came from how the program changed the way New Yorkers think about public spaces. “[Open Restaurants] brought a whole different group of people to the great debate in cities right now, which is how do we continue to turn away from what is an auto-centric approach — which is expensive, 危险的, 从碳密集到更环保, 人类对街道的利用.”

在华盛顿, Trottenberg希望继续关注公平问题, aiming for transformational legislation that will help USDOT support infrastructure leaders at the local level.

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Speaking in July as senators were deep in talks for the Biden administration’s landmark infrastructure bill, 特罗腾伯格的办公室里充满了各种可能性. “The most exciting thing that’s happening right now in Washington is a debate over a big new 运输 bill,Trottenberg说. “我们正处于通过主要交通立法的风口浪尖, 坦率地说，这种情况可能一代人才会发生一次. It will make — if the bill as being discussed passes — tremendous investments in transit and rail, 在电动汽车中, 让我们的道路更安全.”

正是这种立法让特洛滕贝格首先想要获得副议长的职位. 在她被提名这个职位之前, 她被提名加入拜登运输过渡团队. “我抓住了这个机会，”Trottenberg说. “我最终是否会加入政府, I wanted to be part of a group of people that would help restore the department and restore trust in government.”

Trottenberg is modest about what her national success can tell young women who are looking to be leaders in politics. 她说:“我认为辩论已经发生了几代人的变化. “也许我们没有受到应有的鼓励去成为领导者. For myself, I think I stayed a staffer on Capitol Hill for too long — I left money on the table. 我想建议可能还是一样的, 哪个是女性可以领导和改变, 那可能是我们中的任何一个人.” 

对于Trottenberg, 学习如何为自己辩护是难题的一部分, 但同样重要的是, 进一步支持和增强妇女权能的系统工作有待完成. “Leadership for women now is even more transformational; [it’s about] looking to dramatically change the institutions you seek to lead. 说实话，(年轻女性)可能会给我一些建议.”

但问问艾米丽·加洛, 从2014年到2019年在纽约交通运输部担任特罗滕贝格的幕僚长, 你可以看到Trottenberg的影响. “波莉向我展示了一个领导者所能做到的最好——鼓舞人心, 直接, 透明的, 勤劳的, 和协作,加洛说。. “她让员工在工作中拥有自主权，相信他们能做出正确的决定. 当做决定很困难时，她会请别人帮忙. 她以同情心领导. 最重要的是，她很有幽默感. 为她这样有才干的领导工作真是千载难逢的机会.”

仍然, Trottenberg’s humility may be what makes her such a powerful advocate in Washington for the people whose lives she aims to improve. One thing’s for certain: She won’t forget the 纽约市 streets that started it all for her. 她最喜欢的交通方式? “我自己的两只脚.”