WASHINGTON—Every once in a while, a person who is nominated for a federal post seems to possess exactly the right kind of background, experience, connections, and temperament for the job. Mary Peters, who was confirmed last month by the United States Senate as the country’s 15th secretary of transportation, appears to be just such a person.

A transportation professional with decades of experience, the former Arizona state transportation secretary spent nearly four years as administrator of the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Prior to being tapped by President Bush to replace the retiring Norman Y. Mineta, Peters was a principal at HDR, an architectural, engineering, and consulting firm in Arizona.

Prior to her confirmation, Peters was widely viewed as a safe, consensus choice with bipartisan backing. She also had strong support from both trucking and rail officials, who rarely agree on anything in Washington.

“I think she will be good for the agency,” said Randy Mullett, vice president of government affairs for Con-way, the $4.2 billion trucking firm. “She will be a good administrator, and she’s got the faith of the people inside the agency. She was very active in safety and she came from an agency, the FHWA, that’s closely aligned with our industry.”

President Bush praised Mary Peters as an innovator at the announcement of her nomination last month.

One thing to watch for at a Peters-directed DOT is how strongly the agency pushes for using tolls and privatization to pay for infrastructure improvements. Fuel taxes have been frozen since 1993, making it tough to keep up with infrastructure construction and repair costs.

Robert Poole, director of the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation, which advocates free-market solutions to transportation congestion, called Peters’ nomination a “home run” for Americans hoping for a better transportation system. “Mary Peters was the best Federal Highway Administrator this country ever had,” he said. “She challenged a rather staid and conservative industry of contractors and state transportation officials to think outside the box, looking at what their customers want and need, and at new ways to meet those needs.”

Con-way’s Mullet said he’s hoping Peters’ fresh perspective will bring some “rationality” to the federal framework governing highway financing. “We believe this is necessary to ensure the continued efficiency of a true national-highway freight-transportation system, rather than the patchwork quilt that appears to be evolving if the current rush toward private-equity financing continues,” Mullett said.