Atlanta mayor to chair national transportation committee

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will chair the transportation and communications committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, according to a statement from Reed’s office. The conference organizes the mayors of all cities with population over 30,000, to promote urban policy.

The group’s president, Burnsville, Minn. Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz, made the appointment, the statement said. Transportation committees are typically high-profile assignments in government. Months after becoming mayor Reed made a splash in working across party lines to help pass a regional transportation funding bill, and he told the AJC he hopes to promote mass transit projects like the Beltline and a streetcar.