In April 2025, the Secretary for the US Department of Transportation Sean Duffy announced in an op-ed for The Hill that, under his leadership, DoT would seize, “this generational opportunity to refocus the department on safety, innovation, and building big, beautiful things again.” Secretary Duffy followed through on that promise, announcing in October that year a new, first-of-its-kind Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council:

The Council will advise the Secretary on policy and design opportunities to build beautiful structures and restore the beauty of key transportation infrastructure, including highways, bridges, and transit hubs. . . . The Council will identify best practices, develop aesthetic performance metrics, and provide guidance on projects that enhance public spaces and reflect local character. . . .

The creation of this Council aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order (E.O.) 14344, Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again, which aims to update the policies guiding federal architecture design. 

To lead the body, Secretary Duffy appointed National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow as President. Shubow helped draft that Executive Order, issued in August 2025, which reoriented federal architecture from modernism to classical and traditional design. He also prompted and helped draft a similar Executive Order, Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture, issued by President Trump during his first term.

"It is a true honor to be appointed chairman of the Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council.” Shubow commented on his appointment. “From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Merritt Parkway, from Dulles Airport to Cincinnati Union Terminal, America has constructed some of the most aesthetically pleasing infrastructure in the world. Our country did it before, and we can do it again. Beauty in design must not be an afterthought, dismissed as an alleged luxury or anachronism in the name of pure functionalism. Yet for decades far too much of our built environment has been soulless and ugly. Harmony with the natural and historic landscape matters, as does urban revitalization. People want to live, work, and travel in lovable, inspiring places. I look forward to working with the Council in providing guidance on the aesthetics of design."

The Council had its first meeting in February 2026. During the meeting, the members discussed two new projects to revamp American transportation infrastructure. As reported by Fast Company, “The first is the oversight of a national conceptual design competition that is seeking innovative thinking around transportation infrastructure design. The second is the creation of a design guidebook that would set new aesthetic recommendations for the design and renovation of federally controlled transportation projects.”

The next meeting of the Beautifying Transportation Council will occur in August 2026.