U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council (BTIC) last October. The council will advise the secretary on “the aesthetic value” of transportation systems across the country—highways, bridges, train stations, etc.
Yesterday, Secretary Duffy announced the inaugural members of the BTIC. The council will be chaired by Justin Shubow, National Civic Art Society president. The other seven BTIC council members are:
- Bradley Cambridge, a senior project architect at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners
- Maryam Ghyabi-White, Ghyabi Consulting and Management CEO and president
- Bryan Jones, HNTB Corporation Atlantic Division president and senior vice president
- Gary Meisner, Meisner+ Associates | Land Vision president
- Jason Pike, Texas DOT design division director
- Peter Quintanilla, Michael Baker International’s Design Hub vice president
- Kim Vierheilig, STV’s president of buildings
Shubow told AN the BTIC will differ from advisory groups like the Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission because it is tasked with exclusively counseling the Transportation Secretary. The BTIC will also have a nation-wide mandate, as opposed to focusing on Washington, D.C. although Shubow noted he does have ideas for the capital.
“One structure I’d love to see made more beautiful is Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, which crosses the Potomac in Washington, D.C. The bridge opened in 1960 without the intended large sculptures on four of its abutments, which remain uncut granite blocks,” he said. “The bridge, which is quite plain as it stands, ought to be decorated with four relief sculptures carved in situ.”
The BTIC will be “focused on transportation, including highways, bridges, rail, railway stations, and so on,” Shubow said, before stating the council’s purview would also likely include airports.
It’s “unclear at this time if the council will advise the secretary on individual building projects,” Shubow added, like Penn Station or Dulles International Airport. “For me, personally, building a new classical Penn Station in New York is extremely important, but I do not believe the council will weigh in on that particular project.”
The council’s formation is aligned with the Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again Executive Order (EO), issued August 28, 2025. The press statement from Secretary Duffy’s office mentions the EO, however doesn’t specify exactly how it will be applied.
“I’m not a fundamentalist, you know, believing that all transportation infrastructure needs to be classical,” Shubow said, in regard to Dulles International Airport, which the Trump administration aims to overhaul. “I believe Dulles by Eero Saarinen is a beautiful building.”
Pending there is no government shutdown, BTIC’s first meeting will take place February 2 and can be watched via Zoom. Advanced registration is required.
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