This DCist failed to mention on New Year’s Eve that Mayor Adrian Fenty tapped Gabe Klein to be D.C. Department of Transportation chief. The Washington Business Journal has the story and Matthew Yglesias approves.

Both the paper and Yglesias slug Klein as a former Zipcar executive. But people in D.C. ought to know him for something he’s done more recently: Klein, in collaboration with L’Enfant Cafe owner Christopher Lynch and architectural designer Michel Heitstuman, developed the SmartKart. (DCist wrote about the smart fast food stands last December, and the Post wrote up SmartKart executive chef Jordan Lichman here.) There are 12 On the Fly SmartKarts around the city.

Neither this venture nor his work for Zipcar seems to have provided a wealth of management or policy experience. They’re both innovative solutions to some pretty annoying, if small-scale, problems particular to life in D.C. The impression that Klein is an innovator who hopes to improve life around the city is an encouraging one.

Photo by andrew.deci