Secretary LaHood Gives Us the Bird (Data)

...sorry, couldn't resist!

Another small step for government transparency: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he'll overrrule the Federal Aviation Administration's plan to keep bird-plane collision data secret. The FAA tried to sneak this rule by, but public comments on the proposal ran 5 to 1 against.

This one's a no-brainer. The government has data on public safety hazards. Citizens have a right to know about such hazards. The data should be open, period. And if that data might discourage travelers from using some airports, perhaps that will simply motivate some airports to improve their bird-safety measures... or open up more special goose seasons. Either way, the public wins.