Here's a sign Bloomberg may not be kidding about his commitment to this PlaNYC deal. Meet his likely new Department of Transportation head, Janette Sadik-Khan. Eagle-eyed Streetsblog notes that Sadik-Khan, who has been mentioned as contender for the job but not yet announced — has just quit her job at an engineering firm in what's believed to be preparation for a mayoral announcement. The word is she'll be moving into departing commish Iris Weinshall's office as soon as May 14. Sadik-Khan seems to have beaten out the other serious contender, Michael Horodniceanu, who did a traffic-czar stint under Dinkins, in a face-off policy wonks were watching closely because the two candidates seemed to embody two opposite approaches. Horodniceanu is a cars-first traditionalist; Sadik-Khan is a mass-transit innovator. It's encouraging, then, that the person in charge of developing Bloomie's big ideas — new commuter rail into Manhattan, rapid buses, etc. — is actually into this sort of thing. And it's equally encouraging that Sadik-Khan (or at least in the only photo we could find online) looks remarkably like someone you'd see in a Decemberists ticket line.

Sadik-Khan Is Next at DOT [Streetsblog]