Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT’s accomplishments: Three-year anniversary
Today marks three years since Pete Buttigieg was sworn in as the 19th US Secretary of Transportation. By a vote of 86–13, Secretary Buttigieg became the first openly gay Cabinet Secretary ever confirmed by the Senate on February 3, 2021. And then less than a year later, policy experts declared that he had become “the most powerful Transportation Secretary ever” due to his extensive authority to award discretionary grants under the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
Years ago, few people predicted that the mayor of South Bend, Indiana would later become, in the words of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, “one of the greatest Secretaries of any Cabinet position that I have ever worked with.” So on this three-year anniversary, it’s worth taking stock of what Secretary Buttigieg and his team at the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) have done to earn such high praise.
This article attempts to make a relatively thorough (but certainly incomplete) list of notable accomplishments from Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT over the past three years. Just to emphasize, these achievements are a team effort involving 55,000 USDOT employees under the leadership of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg, and the leaders of USDOT’s administrations and bureaus — and under the leadership of President Joe Biden with funding and authority passed by Congress. The Secretary always credits his team and never claims to do this work alone, which he discusses in this clip:
The list of accomplishments is long, so it is helpful to click on the links in the “Accomplishments” section to navigate this article.
Abbreviations
IIJA — Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (aka, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), which covers the five-year period of FY 2022–2026
USDOT — US Department of Transportation
FAA — Federal Aviation Administration
FHWA — Federal Highway Administration
FMCSA — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
FRA — Federal Railroad Administration
FTA — Federal Transit Administration
GLS — Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
MARAD — Maritime Administration
NHTSA — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
OIG — Office of the Inspector General
OST — Office of the Secretary of Transportation (For simplicity, this article refers to OST as USDOT)
PHMSA — Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Accomplishments
Click on the links in this section to navigate this article.
- Helped to design and enact the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — supporting President Biden’s efforts to advance the legislation by conducting about 300 calls and meetings with Congress to facilitate the negotiations, doing over 125 local news hits and a total of 300 press interviews to build public support for the bill, and providing technical assistance to the White House and Congress to ensure that the legislation was designed in a way that would deliver the desired results.
2. IIJA implementation: Oversaw the implementation of about half of the IIJA, launching over 40 brand new USDOT programs and awarding over $200 billion to more than 40,000 transportation projects so far.
3. USDOT processes: Launched the new Project Delivery Center of Excellence to help project sponsors deliver projects on time, on task, and on budget; streamlined grant application processes; expanded the use of Emerging Projects Agreements to provide better-coordinated technical assistance to help communities deliver large portfolios of projects; harmonized the use of categorical exclusions in environmental reviews with other federal agencies; and expanded the number of Regional Infrastructure Accelerators to improve project delivery across the country.
4. Roadway safety: Developed USDOT’s first-ever national plan to eliminate roadway deaths; awarded $1.7 billion to advance safer street designs for over 70% of the US population; funded safety improvements for over 4,500 intersections; proposed rules for automatic emergency braking and expanded seat belt warning systems in new vehicles; issued recalls on unsafe advanced driver assistance systems; awarded $110 million for wildlife crossing projects in 17 states to reduce vehicle collisions with wildlife; updated the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices to better promote the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users; and proposed changes to the New Car Assessment Program that would, for the first time in the program’s history, consider the safety of people outside the vehicle — not just people inside the vehicle.
5. Aviation safety: Began to reverse the decade-long decline in certified air traffic control staffing and hired about 3,000 new controllers since 2021; invested over $420 million to make taxiways safer and improve airfield lighting; took the unprecedented step of blocking Boeing from expanding production of the 737 MAX until further review of its quality control procedures; began deploying tools like Approach Runway Verification to prevent runway incursions; finalized rules to reduce flight attendants’ fatigue and protect flight decks; worked to close safety loopholes for charter and international flights; and launched efforts to support pilot and controller mental health.
6. Railway safety: Called on Congress to pass the Railway Safety Act and proposed many of the provisions in the bill, funded 70 rail safety projects, conducted over 7,500 focused inspections on hazmat routes, inspected over 76,000 miles of track and over 40,000 tank cars in 2023, supported rail workers in negotiating paid sick leave which now covers 87% of Class I rail workers, funded the elimination or improvement of over 400 at-grade crossings, required emergency escape breathing apparatuses on trains carrying hazmat, proposed rules for two-person crews and the disclosure of train accident information to emergency responders, and successfully pushed Norfolk Southern to join a Confidential Close Call Reporting System pilot program to enable about 1,000 rail workers to confidentially report unsafe events without fear of discipline.
7. Truck driver safety: Awarded over $285 million for projects that specifically build new truck parking spaces, released a Crime Prevention for Truckers Survey and gathered recommendations on preventing assault and harassment, and expanded funding for truck safety grants by 61%.
8. Transit worker safety: Proposed a General Directive to require transit agencies to assess safety risks and develop strategies to prevent assaults against transit workers, funded research on how to prevent assaults, and began rulemaking to ensure that transit workers have adequate rest.
9. Pipeline and hazmat safety: Awarded $196 million to repair or replace nearly 270 miles of pipe, finalized a rule to require remotely controlled or automatic shut-off valves, and proposed rules to reduce the risk of overpressurized pipelines and require technologies to detect leaks.
10. Merchant mariner safety: Coordinated with US national defense agencies to communicate safety alerts to the US maritime industry in response to Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea. Worked to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the US maritime industry by enforcing new EMBARC standards to protect midshipmen, tightening law enforcement at USMMA, creating a new amnesty policy at USMMA so victims feel safer to disclose assaults, and working with Congress to enact new legal requirements for US-flagged ships.
11. 5G C-Band rollout: Prevented a nationwide aviation crisis by negotiating with telecommunications companies to delay the 5G C-Band rollout near airports and requiring airlines to retrofit their altimeters, which resulted in a safe and successful 5G C-Band rollout on July 1, 2023.
12. Supply chains: Helped US ports eliminate backlogs by setting up pop-up container yards, removing long-dwelling containers, and moving to 24/7 operations; launched the Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) data-sharing initiative to help shippers and ports optimize their operations; invested $1.6 billion in port upgrades; funded repairs to over 7,800 bridges; awarded $1.8 billion to improve freight rail capacity and efficiency; designated 4 new US marine highways; launched the Multimodal Freight Office; supported careers in trucking by funding truck parking and helping to recruit women and veterans into the industry; and proposed a rule to remove unnecessary barriers to earning a commercial driver’s license.
13. Transportation options: Oversaw the largest federal investment in public transit in US history, awarded $4 billion to support transit buses, awarded $6.1 billion to build America’s first high-speed rail systems, began planning over 40 new passenger rail corridors, issued new guidance to finance and promote affordable housing near public transit, prioritized RAISE grants for pedestrian and bike projects, invested $2 billion in airport terminals, activated 169 new flight routes, reduced flight disruptions from commercial space launches, and allocated $604 million to improve ferry service.
14. Consumer protection: Worked to achieve the lowest flight cancellation rate in a decade in 2023; levied a $140 million penalty on Southwest Airlines, which is 30 times larger than any previous USDOT consumer protection penalty; launched the Airline Customer Service Dashboard (FlightRights.gov), which massively expanded travelers’ rights; proposed new rules for airline refunds and disclosing hidden fees; pushed airlines to refund over $2.5 billion to customers; began developing rules to compensate passengers for controllable flight disruptions and ban fees for parents to sit next to their children; and cracked down on moving scams with Operation Protect Your Move.
15. Market competition and fairness: In the airline industry, supported DOJ’s lawsuit against the JetBlue-Spirit merger and, for the first time in USDOT history, used USDOT’s authority to investigate whether the merger would hurt the public’s interest. In the trucking industry, helped to prevent broker fraud by requiring brokers to maintain $75,000 in financial security.
16. Resilience: Provided over $3.5 billion in emergency relief to transportation systems, helped Pennsylvania quickly reopen I-95 in Philadelphia after a tanker truck crash caused a bridge collapse, launched the $7.3 billion PROTECT formula program to help communities prepare for climate-related impacts, delivered the first National Security Multi-Mission Vessel, added 12 US-flagged commercial ships available to serve in times of emergency, and supported efforts to make global food supply chains more resilient by promoting infrastructure reconstruction in Ukraine to ship grain exports.
17. Interventions: Awarded $185 million to 45 projects to reconnect communities divided by past transportation decisions and opened $3.3 billion for more reconnection projects, awarded $919 million in Rural Surface Transportation grants, increased funding for Tribal bridge projects by 14-fold, provided intensive technical assistance to the first 64 communities in the new Thriving Communities Program which supports underserved and overburdened communities, awarded 70% of 2023 RAISE grants to historically disadvantaged communities, and launched the Equitable Transportation Community Explorer to map data on transportation equity.
18. Wealth creation: Facilitated project labor agreements for 319 FHWA-funded projects totaling $9.9 billion, including $3.2 billion with local hiring preferences; exceeded an ambitious goal for 21% of USDOT contracts to go to small disadvantaged businesses; awarded over $2 billion in direct procurement to small disadvantaged businesses in FY 2023, which is over $600 million more than in FY 2021; launched the Connections MarketPlace platform to connect small businesses with federal procurement officials; and proposed changes to USDOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program to give businesses more flexibility to grow.
19. Expanding access: Awarded $686 million to make older transit stations ADA-compliant, began a rulemaking process to penalize airlines for mishandling wheelchairs and require training to handle wheelchairs, finalized a rule to require new single-aisle airline planes to have lavatories that are large enough for a wheelchair user and an attendant, published the first-ever Bill of Rights for Airline Passengers with Disabilities, pushed United Airlines to offer new accommodations for wheelchair users, and began laying the groundwork for a potential rule to allow passengers to remain in their own wheelchairs when they fly.
20. Power of community: Signed the first-ever Tribal transportation self-governance compacts with the Cherokee Nation and Ohkay Owingeh, giving Tribal leaders greater control over transportation decisions; updated USDOT’s Tribal Consultation Policy for the first time in 20 years with more clearly-defined procedures for consulting with Tribal leaders; strengthened USDOT’s enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and required grant recipients to meet standards for community participation; and published a guide on best practices for meaningful public involvement in transportation decision-making.
21. Zero-emission and low-emission vehicles: Raised fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks to save 2.5 billion tons of emissions through 2050 and sharply raised enforcement penalties; opened $2.4 billion to begin building a nationwide network of EV fast chargers every 50 miles along 75,000 miles of highway; awarded $623 million to build EV chargers and hydrogen fueling stations in communities and corridors; required interoperability for federally-funded EV chargers, spurring Tesla to open up 7,500 of its chargers by the end of 2024; repaired or replaced nearly 4,500 charging ports; funded over 1,800 zero-emission buses, doubling these buses in the US; announced nearly $400 million to develop sustainable aviation fuel and other technologies to cut aircraft emissions; and awarded nearly $100 million for electric or low-emission ferry systems.
22. Climate-conscious investment decisions and operations: Launched the $6.4 billion Carbon Reduction Program that gives states flexibility to pursue a wide range of emission-cutting strategies, adopted USDOT’s first-ever department-wide Buy Clean policy to prioritize low-carbon construction materials in federal procurement, opened $160 million for solutions that cut air pollution from truck idling at ports, awarded nearly $200 million to port infrastructure projects that support offshore wind development, optimized the descent path of aircraft to save millions of gallons of jet fuel at 53 airports, finished testing NASA software to efficiently manage air traffic and avoid over 75,000 tons of emissions each year, and developed a consistent metric for states to track transportation emissions.
(Note: USDOT’s climate work also includes efforts to promote passenger rail, public transit, walking, biking, and transit-oriented development. These efforts are described under Accomplishment #13 on “Transportation Options”.)
23. Innovation: Launched ARPA-I to fund high-risk, high-reward next-generation transportation technologies; announced up to $435 million in grant awards for 34 University Transportation Centers; opened a new state-of-the-art FHWA Pavement Testing Facility; awarded the first $94 million in SMART grants to plan 59 demonstration projects of new technologies to serve community needs; launched the Intersection Safety Challenge and selected 15 winning designs; gave researchers more flexibility to serve USDOT’s unmet research needs through the new $250 million Open Research Initiative; drafted an ambitious National Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Deployment Plan and opened $40 million to accelerate V2X deployment; established a plan to allow air taxis to safely begin operations by 2028; conducted field testing to inform the development of FAA policies to safely manage the rise in drone air traffic; and established a new Office of Automation Safety at NHTSA to regulate the safety of automated vehicles.
Legislation
1. Helped to design and enact the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — supporting President Biden’s efforts to advance the legislation by conducting about 300 calls and meetings with Congress to facilitate the negotiations, doing over 125 local news hits and a total of 300 press interviews to build public support for the bill, and providing technical assistance to the White House and Congress to ensure that the legislation was designed in a way that would deliver the desired results.
The $1.2 trillion infrastructure law is one of the crowning achievements of the Biden presidency — because of its historic scale and because it vindicated President Biden’s belief that, even in a hyper-partisan political climate, it was still possible to pass major legislation on a bipartisan basis. Many pundits and fellow Democrats had questioned whether the President was being naïve or old-fashioned in attempting to broker a deal with Republicans. In the end, the President proved critics wrong when 19 Republican Senators joined Democrats to pass the bill, which included:
- The largest federal investment in public transit EVER
- The largest federal investment in passenger rail since Amtrak’s creation
- The largest dedicated bridge funding in over 50 years
- A nationwide network of fast EV charging stations
- Retrofits to make older transit stations accessible to people with disabilities
- Upgrades to airports, ports, and much more…
By all accounts, the President worked closely with Secretary Buttigieg to achieve this victory. Franklin Foer’s book “The Last Politician” recounts:
“As Joe Biden embarked on his negotiation, he kept Pete Buttigieg by his side. Biden said the young transportation secretary reminded him of his late son Beau. And this was his apprenticeship in dealmaking.”
Franklin Foer, “The Last Politician” (2023)
This description is consistent with comments from others who were involved in the negotiations. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) referred to Secretary Buttigieg as “the key architect of the bipartisan infrastructure bill — the person who was responsible for delivering it to Congress and, more importantly, getting it passed in Congress.” Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) recounted how he and the Secretary discussed ideas for including funding for wildlife crossings in the bill. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who led the first round of negotiations, said that the Secretary was in frequent communication with her, regularly following up to help work through any sticking points and facilitate a bipartisan deal.
Even for the non-transportation parts of the bill, Secretary Buttigieg served as a sounding board for members of Congress to discuss their feedback. For instance, Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) spoke to the Secretary about his initial concerns regarding the infrastructure plan’s provisions for water systems. Carper said, “He is very good at anticipating questions and being able to respond to them without a lot of rhetoric or gibberish.”
Throughout the process, Secretary Buttigieg held about 300 calls and meetings with House and Senate lawmakers to advance the bill. He also conducted a media campaign to bolster public support for the legislation — the Washington Post described him as “a chief salesman for the bipartisan infrastructure plan”— doing over 125 local news hits and a total of 300 press interviews.
These included appearances on conservative media outlets, with an eye toward securing Republican votes in the Senate. For example, in this Fox News interview in April 2021, Secretary Buttigieg defended the inclusion of broadband and power grid infrastructure in the bill — which likely helped to shore up GOP Senators’ support for those provisions:
Behind the scenes, Secretary Buttigieg also coordinated his team at USDOT to work with the White House and Congressional offices, providing technical information and helping to design the legislation in a way that would be feasible to implement and deliver the desired results. The USDOT team won a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for their work on the legislation. Maria Lefevre represented the office of the Secretary in accepting the medal, and this is how she described the process:
“As soon as the president was elected, he started what was called the American Jobs Plan, and that plan was submitted to Congress. And what Congress does is it reaches out to executive agencies and asks for what’s called technical assistance. They ask us: ‘If we change this law, how would you implement it? Can you implement it? How fast can you get it done?’ So we spent nine months to a year helping Congress draft this bill so it would be in a way the Department of Transportation can succeed for the American people in getting over a trillion dollars out the door to local communities.”
Maria Lefevre, Executive Director, Office of the Undersecretary, USDOT
Management
2. IIJA implementation: Oversaw the implementation of about half of the IIJA, launching over 40 brand new USDOT programs and awarding over $200 billion to more than 40,000 transportation projects so far.
Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT are managing roughly half of the IIJA funding ($660 billion) for transportation programs over the course of five years — which is a massive expansion of the department’s grant-making responsibilities. Of these dollars, the Secretary will make the final determination on how over $200 billion in discretionary grants are awarded — which is at least 5 times more than any previous Transportation Secretary.
So far, USDOT has awarded over $200 billion in both discretionary and formula grants to over 40,000 projects. (Discretionary grants are selected by the Secretary via a competitive process, whereas formula grants are allocated to states via a formula set by Congress.)
To illustrate how much USDOT’s budgetary responsibilities have expanded, this chart shows that USDOT’s funding was 85% higher in the 2023 fiscal year than in 2017:
Within the first year of implementing the IIJA, USDOT launched 46 brand new programs and expanded about 30 existing programs. This involved hiring additional staff to administer these programs, designing the technical details and criteria for each program, publishing Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs), holding webinars and doing public outreach to raise awareness of these NOFOs and answer applicants’ questions, reviewing grant applications, awarding the first round of grants, helping project sponsors go through the process to deliver these projects, and conducting oversight and due diligence to ensure that the funds are used properly.
Secretary Buttigieg’s experience as a small-city mayor has influenced his approach to implementing the IIJA. He has tried to make these programs more user-friendly and provide more helpful guidance to applicants. For example, after the city of Somerville, Massachusetts unsuccessfully applied for the first round of Safe Streets and Roads for All grants, USDOT provided feedback that helped them successfully apply for the second round of grants. “USDOT staff have been uncommonly helpful in explaining why applications weren’t successful and how they were evaluated,” said Somerville mobility director Brad Rawson.
To see where the infrastructure dollars are going, visit Invest.gov and view the interactive “Public Infrastructure” map:
This chart summarizes the amount of IIJA funding that has been announced by each type of project:
Increasingly, the public is seeing ribbon-cuttings for projects funded by the IIJA. For example, in July 2023, Buttigieg joined elected leaders in Pennsylvania to celebrate the completion of the Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE)’s terminal modernization project. He had awarded $5 million in IIJA funding to this project through USDOT’s brand new Airport Terminal Program, and it was completed on time and on budget. In October 2023, the new Second Avenue Bridge in Detroit, Michigan opened for operation and was constructed using funds from the IIJA. The bridge has an innovative design that avoided the need to lower the freeway beneath it. It was constructed off-site and then moved on-site to be installed starting in July 2022.
3. USDOT processes: Launched the new Project Delivery Center of Excellence to help project sponsors deliver projects on time, on task, and on budget; streamlined grant application processes; expanded the use of Emerging Projects Agreements to provide better-coordinated technical assistance to help communities deliver large portfolios of projects; harmonized the use of categorical exclusions in environmental reviews with other federal agencies; and expanded the number of Regional Infrastructure Accelerators to improve project delivery across the country.
Wherever feasible, Secretary Buttigieg has sought to make USDOT’s processes more efficient and help project sponsors improve project delivery, so their projects are less vulnerable to delays and cost overruns.
Streamlining the grant application process
To reduce the burden on grant applicants, USDOT has combined the INFRA, MEGA, and RURAL programs into one Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), so applicants can apply for any or all of those programs by submitting one application. The Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program and the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program were also combined into one NOFO.
Emerging Projects Agreements
To more efficiently coordinate the planning and financing of large portfolios of regional projects, USDOT has been using a relatively new organizing tool called Emerging Projects Agreements. This concept was first developed in 2016 under the Obama administration, and Secretary Buttigieg has now revived and expanded its use. An Emerging Projects Agreement is a strategic partnership between a project sponsor (typically a local government) and USDOT’s Build America Bureau, which oversees Private Activity Bonds (PABs) and administers low-interest financing programs through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF). Under these agreements, USDOT provides centralized technical support to help the project sponsor finance and deliver a portfolio of multiple projects — as opposed to treating each project as a separate silo.
So far during Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, USDOT has formed Emerging Projects Agreements with Kansas City, Missouri; Austin, Texas; and California’s State Transportation Administration (CalSTA). For example, Kansas City’s agreement covers a $15 billion portfolio of proposed projects, including a 21-mile rail line to connect the airport to the downtown area, an expansion of streetcar service, multiple projects to reconnect disadvantaged communities that were divided by past highway construction, bridge repairs and replacements, and the city’s Vision Zero projects to make roads safer.
Harmonizing categorical exclusions with other federal agencies
USDOT has also worked to reduce inefficiencies in the environmental review process. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal agencies review projects by preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) or an environmental assessment (EA). To help streamline this process, federal agencies can establish categorical exclusions (CEs) for types of projects that do not typically have a significant environmental impact. If a CE applies to a proposed project, the federal agency reviews whether the project involves any extraordinary circumstances that may have a significant environmental impact. If no extraordinary circumstances are present, the federal agency can permit the project without preparing an EIS or EA — which saves time and paperwork. In June 2023, the Fiscal Responsibility Act was signed into law by President Biden. This new law allows federal agencies to adopt the CEs of other federal agencies. In September 2023, USDOT quickly used this new authority to adopt the US Department of Energy’s CE for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. Secretary Buttigieg discussed this at a Congressional hearing:
Project Delivery Center of Excellence
In July 2023, USDOT launched the Project Delivery Center of Excellence at the Volpe Center to help project sponsors deliver projects on time, on task, and on budget. As part of the launch, Secretary Buttigieg held a webinar with Oxford Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, author of “How Big Things Get Done” and “Megaprojects and Risk”, to discuss insights that are relevant to the new center’s work — which includes:
- Serving as a central place to disseminate and share best practices;
- Streamlining construction contracts by providing templates and model language; and
- Studying the root causes of construction change orders (i.e., changes to a project that were not in the original contract and can cause cost overruns) and identifying best practices to prevent change orders.
In this clip, Secretary Buttigieg discusses some factors that can cause sluggish project timelines, and he mentions USDOT’s new Project Delivery Center of Excellence as a step toward tackling that challenge:
Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Program
Over the past three years, USDOT has also expanded the Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Program, which aims to accelerate project delivery and help projects access USDOT funding. To some extent, Regional Infrastructure Accelerators (RIAs) serve as field offices for USDOT’s Build America Bureau, providing technical assistance to projects within particular regions. This program was originally authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act enacted in December 2015, and the first NOFO for this program was issued in December 2020 at the end of the Trump administration. The first 10 RIAs were selected by Secretary Buttigieg in 2021, and then in 2023, the Secretary expanded the program to include 24 RIAs.
In general, Secretary Buttigieg has sought to expand USDOT’s technical assistance services to help project sponsors follow best practices to go through the planning, financing, and permitting process more quickly and smoothly.
Safety
4. Roadway safety: Developed USDOT’s first-ever national plan to eliminate roadway deaths; awarded $1.7 billion to advance safer street designs for over 70% of the US population; funded safety improvements for over 4,500 intersections; proposed rules for automatic emergency braking and expanded seat belt warning systems in new vehicles; issued recalls on unsafe advanced driver assistance systems; awarded $110 million for wildlife crossing projects in 17 states to reduce vehicle collisions with wildlife; updated the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices to better promote the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users; and proposed changes to the New Car Assessment Program that would, for the first time in the program’s history, consider the safety of people outside the vehicle — not just people inside the vehicle.
When COVID struck, people started driving less — but the number of deadly crashes surged. US traffic fatalities increased by 7% in 2020 and 10.5% in 2021. Evidence suggests that there was an increase in risky behaviors like speeding and inattentiveness. But even well before COVID, roadway safety has been a major challenge in the US, claiming the lives of at least 34,000 Americans each year since 1950. Among people outside of the vehicle (i.e., pedestrians and cyclists), traffic fatalities started rising over a decade ago, disproportionately impacting Tribal communities and Black and Hispanic pedestrians and cyclists. In 2023, USDOT published a data visualization tool where you can see a map of fatal crash hotspots at the national level and drill down to the local level to see where crashes are happening in your community.
In response to this crisis, in January 2022, Secretary Buttigieg unveiled USDOT’s first-ever comprehensive national plan to reduce the number of roadway deaths and injuries in the United States. This new National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) also establishes America’s first-ever nationwide Vision Zero goal. Dozens of local communities have adopted similar goals, but this is the first time that the US government has declared that: “Zero is the only acceptable number of deaths and serious injuries on our roadways.” At the US Conference of Mayors gathering in January 2023, Secretary Buttigieg issued a call to action, urging communities across the country to work toward this Vision Zero goal:
The NRSS is structured around 5 objectives:
- Safer People: Encourage safe, responsible driving and behavior.
- Safer Roads: Design roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes, encourage safer behavior, and facilitate safe travel by the most vulnerable users.
- Safer Vehicles: Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that prevent crashes and minimize the impact on people inside and outside of the vehicle.
- Safer Speeds: Promote safer speeds through roadway design, appropriate speed-limit setting, education, outreach, and enforcement.
- Post-Crash Care: Ensure that people quickly get the care they need after a crash while also maintaining the safety of first responders and preventing secondary crashes.
USDOT’s website provides news about NRSS implementation and an online dashboard where you can track the progress of specific action items. In the dashboard, you can hover over each quarter of the year to see detailed updates:
Here are significant actions that USDOT has taken to implement the NRSS so far:
Investments in safer street designs
In 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded a total of $1.7 billion in grants from the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Program and $21 million from the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF), both funded by the IIJA. These grants went to over 1,000 local communities — which collectively cover about 70% of the US population — to fund the development of safety plans, pedestrian infrastructure improvements, intersection safety, better visibility, traffic calming, and more.
For example, Dearborn, Michigan is receiving $24.8 million to improve safety on a two-mile stretch of Warren Avenue. To calm traffic, the road’s five driving lanes will be narrowed to two driving lanes plus turning lanes. A greenery buffer will protect bike lanes from vehicle traffic, mitigate flood waters, and beautify the streetscape. New LED street lighting will improve visibility.
These types of projects are being funded across the country — and there is more to come. Over $3 billion of SS4A and TTPSF grants will be awarded in future rounds.
Other grant programs have also been used to fund similar projects. For instance, Secretary Buttigieg has awarded RAISE grants for Complete Streets projects that improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists in Philadelphia, Detroit, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Houston, Cincinnati, Natchitoches (Louisiana), Wheeling (West Virginia), Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Boise, and many other communities. In January 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded $78 million through the Mega Grant Program to the Roosevelt Boulevard Multimodal Project in Philadelphia. Roosevelt Boulevard currently accounts for 14% of all crash-related deaths in the city. This project will improve safety along about 12 miles of the Boulevard.
Promoting Complete Streets
For much of the last century, US streets have largely been designed around vehicles, while the safety and mobility of pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair users have tended to be neglected. The “Complete Streets” concept seeks to change this paradigm and serve all road users.
In March 2021, based on a July 2020 directive from Congress, USDOT started a Complete Streets Initiative at FHWA that seeks to make Complete Streets the standard of practice among state and local agencies for non-access controlled roadways eligible for federal aid.
In March 2022, FHWA published “Moving to a Complete Streets Design Model: A Report to Congress on Opportunities and Challenges”.
In January 2023, the department issued a waiver that allows states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to use federal funding to cover 100% of the cost of certain planning and research activities to implement Complete Streets. Typically, federal grants require state and local governments to contribute matching funds, so this waiver will help more communities afford to do Complete Streets planning.
Enforcement of vehicle safety standards
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are becoming more widely used and include safety features like automatic emergency braking and alerts to improve drivers’ awareness. But it is risky if these systems have design flaws or if drivers misuse them or rely on them too much.
In August 2021, NHTSA escalated an investigation into crashes involving Tesla’s ADAS technologies, and in June 2022, NHTSA released data showing that, between July 2021 and May 2022, it identified 273 crashes linked to Tesla’s “Autopilot” or “Full Self Driving” (FSD) Beta system, which accounted for 5 reported deaths.
In February 2023, NHTSA issued a recall notice for nearly 400,000 FSD-equipped Tesla vehicles, because the system allowed unsafe maneuvers at intersections (eg, not coming to a full stop at stop signs) and had other issues with respecting speed limits and traffic safety laws. The following month, Tesla issued a software update to address those issues.
In December 2023, NHTSA issued a recall notice for over 2 million Autopilot-equipped Tesla vehicles, because the system did not include adequate features to ensure that drivers pay attention. In response, Tesla agreed to release a software update with additional controls and alerts to encourage drivers to use the system properly. NHTSA’s investigation remains open while it monitors Tesla’s updates.
In this clip, Secretary Buttigieg discusses concerns about drivers misusing ADAS technologies:
Rulemaking to improve road safety
NHTSA and FMCSA have been developing new regulations to improve the safety of vehicle passengers:
In July 2022, NHTSA issued a final rule to require rear underride protection on trailers and semitrailers. Under this new rule, rear impact guards must provide sufficient strength and energy absorption to protect occupants of compact and subcompact passenger cars impacting the rear of trailers at 35 miles per hour.
In May 2023, NHTSA issued a proposed rule to require automatic emergency braking (AEB) and pedestrian AEB systems in new vehicles — which would save at least 360 lives per year.
NHTSA has also been working on rules to encourage seat belt use, since about half of vehicle occupants who died in crashes in 2021 were not wearing seat belts. In August 2023, the agency issued a proposed rule to require new vehicles to have seat belt use warning systems for the right front passenger and rear seats. The new requirement would apply to passenger cars, trucks, most buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less.
In September 2023, FMCSA announced that it is beginning to develop a proposed rule that would require heavy trucks to use speed limiters — a rule that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is independent from USDOT, has recommended for four decades. A large coalition of trucking groups and safety advocates have expressed support for the use of speed limiters and are opposing proposed legislation in Congress that would stop FMCSA from issuing this rule.
In December 2023, NHTSA issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking and requested public feedback to help the agency develop new regulations to mandate in-car technology that helps to prevent drunk driving.
Changes to the New Car Assessment Program
NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program produces safety ratings for new vehicles, which helps to inform consumers. In May 2023, NHTSA proposed changes to this program to test and measure how vehicles impact the safety of pedestrians. So for the first time in the program’s history, safety ratings would consider the safety of people outside the vehicle — not just people inside the vehicle.
Guidance to state and local governments
In October 2022, FHWA issued new guidance to states regarding how to comply with the infrastructure law’s requirement to develop a Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment. Vulnerable road users include pedestrians, cyclists, and people who use wheelchairs — who account for 20% of the people killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2021.
In December 2023, FHWA finalized amendments to the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) by analyzing and resolving over 35,000 public comments. According to FHWA, the MUTCD “defines the standards used by road managers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all streets, highways, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and site roadways open to public travel.” This manual had not been updated since 2009, and the first draft of the update was released in 2020 by the Trump administration. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, FHWA revised the 2020 MUTCD draft to better promote the safety of vulnerable road users. The new manual nearly doubled the size of the section on bike-oriented infrastructure, prohibited right turns on red across separated bike lanes, and included diagrams for protected intersections for separated bike lanes:
Perhaps most significantly, the new MUTCD no longer recommends that speed limits be set purely based on the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing traffic. To set speed limits, the MUTCD now calls for transportation agencies to conduct engineering studies that consider 6 factors: the roadway environment, roadway characteristics, geographic context, crash experience, speed distribution, and an analysis of speed trends. Furthermore, the updated MUTCD says:
“When the 85th-percentile speed is appreciably greater than the posted speed limit, and the roadway context does not support setting a higher speed limit, the engineering study should consider whether changes to geometric features, enforcement, and/or other speed-reduction countermeasures might improve compliance with the posted speed limit. A similar approach should be used if the results of past speed studies indicate that the 85th-percentile speed has consistently increased.”
In other words: If free-flowing traffic moves faster than what is appropriate for a given road, transportation planners should consider implementing traffic-calming measures to reduce speeds.
Technology for road safety
USDOT has been advancing the use of technologies to improve road safety, such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), interoperable vehicle to everything (V2X) capabilities, an Intersection Safety Challenge, etc. In October 2023, USDOT started accepting applications for a $40 million grant opportunity to deploy V2X technology. In its 2023–2024 Every Day Counts initiative, USDOT promoted the use of Traffic Incident Management (TIM) technologies to respond to crashes more quickly and safely, which helps to prevent secondary crashes. For example, the Washington State Patrol has reduced the time needed to measure, map, and photograph serious crash scenes by 70 percent with the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
Wildlife crossings
FHWA has estimated that over a million vehicle collisions with wildlife occur annually, causing about 200 deaths and 26,000 injuries to passengers and drivers each year. Wildlife crossings help to prevent these collisions by studying the natural migratory patterns of species and placing overpasses or underpasses at key locations where migration paths intersect with roadways. When the Biden administration and Congress began developing the IIJA, Senator Martin Henrich (D-NM) spoke to Secretary Buttigieg about including funding for wildlife crossings in the bill — and that idea became a reality. In December 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA awarded $110 million for 19 wildlife crossing projects in 17 states, funded by the IIJA. And there is more to come — in future grant rounds, another $240 million will be awarded.
Latest traffic fatality data
Since the release of the NRSS in January 2022, the overall number of roadway deaths has plateaued and declined slightly. In the first 9 months of 2023, the number of traffic deaths decreased by 4.5%. However, pedestrian fatalities continued to surge. Secretary Buttigieg has called this a “national crisis” and has continued to add new action items to the NRSS to bring the number of fatalities to zero.
5. Aviation safety: Began to reverse the decade-long decline in certified air traffic control staffing and hired about 3,000 new controllers since 2021; invested over $420 million to make taxiways safer and improve airfield lighting; took the unprecedented step of blocking Boeing from expanding production of the 737 MAX until further review of its quality control procedures; began deploying tools like Approach Runway Verification to prevent runway incursions; finalized rules to reduce flight attendants’ fatigue and protect flight decks; worked to close safety loopholes for charter and international flights; and launched efforts to support pilot and controller mental health.
The US aviation sector has experienced enormous strain since the COVID pandemic. In early 2020, air travel suddenly ground to a halt as public health precautions were implemented. Travel started to return to more normal operations during Secretary Buttigieg’s first year in office in 2021 — but still below pre-pandemic levels. And then in 2022, travel demand came roaring back and continued to climb to record levels in 2023:
The sudden contraction and then sudden expansion in US air travel exposed vulnerabilities and put pressure on the system, which might have contributed to the significant uptick in close call incidents that occurred in early 2023. That said, there is no single explanation for these incidents. According to FAA data released in August 2023, during the first half of 2023, about 60% of runway incursions were caused by pilot error, 20% by air traffic control error, and 20% from vehicle or pedestrian error. While the most serious types of runway incursions remain rare, Secretary Buttigieg has made it clear that even one is too many and is working to eliminate them:
With this context in mind, here are measures that Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA have taken to maintain and strengthen the safety of the National Airspace System over the past three years:
Timeline of efforts to prevent runway incursions
To address serious runway incursions, the FAA issued a Safety Call to Action on February 14, 2023 and then held a Safety Summit with over 200 aviation experts and leaders on March 15, 2023. As a follow-up to this Summit, in April 2023, the FAA formed an independent Safety Review Team (SRT) to analyze vulnerabilities in the National Airspace System and produce a report with safety recommendations. The SRT report was published in November 2023. Two days after the report’s release, the FAA announced that it would immediately act on several of the SRT’s recommendations. The sections below will go into more detail about the actions shown in this timeline:
Air traffic controller hiring, training, and operations
Air traffic control staffing has faced challenges for many years. The number of certified air traffic controllers steadily declined each year between fiscal years 2012 and 2020:
The FAA’s training pipeline has suffered from multiple major disruptions. In 2013, budget sequestration cuts and a 16-day government shutdown caused hiring and training to stop for 10 months. In 2018 and 2019, a 35-day government shutdown forced the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City to close. And then when COVID hit in 2020, the academy had to close again for 4 months, and the FAA paused on-the-job training for 7 months to nearly 2 years at critical air traffic control facilities. When the academy reopened in July 2020, it reduced class sizes by 50%, which sharply reduced the number of new hires in 2021.
In May 2023, Secretary Buttigieg estimated that the FAA had a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers relative to the ideal staffing level. There is no quick, easy way to fix this shortage, because it can take over 3 years to fully train a new air traffic controller. And much of their training is location-specific — so they cannot simply be relocated to facilities that have the most severe staffing needs.
Though it will take time to fix this shortage, Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA have started to turn the tide. In 2022, the FAA returned its recruitment to pre-pandemic levels, hiring a little over 1,000 new controllers. And then in 2023, it met its goal of hiring 1,500 new controllers, and the total number of certified controllers rose to about 10,700 (up from 10,578 the previous year). Secretary Buttigieg is requesting $117 million from Congress to hire another 1,800 controllers in 2024. This chart shows that, in its 2023 workforce plan, the FAA substantially raised its targets for new hiring compared to prior plans:
In November 2023, in response to the SRT report’s recommendations regarding air traffic control training and oversight, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker announced that the FAA would:
- Provide additional support to colleges and universities in the Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) Program so that graduates from these programs will qualify to go directly to on-the-job training at an air traffic control facility — rather than needing to attend the FAA Academy.
- Create a year-round hiring track for experienced controllers from the military and private industry.
- Keep filling every seat at the FAA Academy and increase the classroom capacity.
- Expand the use of advanced training — for example, the FAA has new advanced training facilities in Chicago and San Diego and will add more in Nashua and Phoenix in 2024.
- Deploy tower simulator systems in 95 facilities by the end of 2025. The first simulator was deployed in Austin, Texas in January 2024.
- Have the Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service report directly to the FAA Administrator and Aviation Safety Associate Administrator.
Throughout 2023, the FAA also held over 100 Runway Safety Action Team meetings at control towers across the country to identify unique safety risks at each location and develop plans to mitigate those risks. These meetings happen annually, and the FAA used the 2023 meetings to redouble their efforts to eliminate close call incidents.
Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA have also focused on addressing air traffic controller fatigue. In December 2023, the FAA announced the creation of a three-member panel of fatigue experts to review the latest science and consider ways to improve controller scheduling and requirements to prevent fatigue. The panel’s work began in early January 2024, and it will send a final report to the FAA about 6 weeks later.
Infrastructure and technology to improve runway safety
One way to prevent runway incursions is to redesign runways to be less confusing, improve lighting, and have fewer points where planes might intersect. In May 2023, the FAA awarded over $100 million to make these upgrades at 12 airports. For example, Tucson International Airport received $33.1 million to build a taxiway and rebuild an existing runway to be further away from a parallel runway. In August 2023, another $121 million was awarded to 8 airports. In that round, Boston Logan International received $44.9 million to simplify their airfield layout. The following month in September 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced over $200 million in IIJA grants to improve airfield lighting systems at 82 airports. And in January 2024, the FAA awarded $243.7 million in Airport Infrastructure Grants to modernize airport infrastructure — several of these projects will reduce the risk of runway incursions. For example, Willow Run Airport in Van Buren Township, Michigan received $2.2 million to construct an 8,617-foot parallel taxiway so aircraft do not need to back-taxi on the runway.
In terms of technology, the FAA is considering new tools to improve air traffic controllers’ situational awareness, so they have a timely and accurate view of the location and movement of all aircraft and vehicles at an airport in all types of weather. In June 2023, the FAA issued a Request for Information about currently-available situational awareness technologies, and the FAA aims to start deploying these tools at select airports by June 2024.
One situational awareness tool that the FAA is currently developing is called the Runway Incursion Device (RID). It gives air traffic controllers a visual or audio reminder that a runway is not available for arriving or departing aircraft. Once the tool is approved for use, some initial units will be manufactured and tested before the tool goes into full production.
The FAA has also started deploying a tool called Approach Runway Verification (ARV) to alert air traffic controllers if an aircraft is not aligned with the correct runway. In September 2023, the ARV tool was deployed to air traffic control facilities in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. The initial testing of this tool has been successful so far, and it will be deployed to additional facilities in 2024.
Rulemaking to tighten safety regulations
Over the past 3 years, the FAA’s rulemaking activity has tightened the overall safety of the National Airspace System.
In October 2022, the FAA issued a final rule requiring that flight attendants receive at least 10 hours of consecutive rest between shifts with no exceptions — an increase from the previous requirement of 9 hours that could be reduced to 8 hours. This new rule was mandated by Congress in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, but according to the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), the Trump administration put the rule in a regulatory process that was designed to block it. In a conversation with Secretary Buttigieg, AFA President Sara Nelson described flight attendants’ decades-long fight to achieve this final rule and thanked the Secretary and the Biden administration for getting it across the finish line:
In June 2023, the FAA issued a final rule to require a secondary barrier on the flight deck of new commercial airplanes, providing a layer of protection against intrusion when the flight deck door is open.
In August 2023, the FAA issued a Notice of Intent to begin rulemaking to close safety loopholes for public charter flights, which have become more frequent and complex over the past decade. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the AFA praised this step. As an example of why new rules are needed, ALPA cited their concerns about SkyWest’s proposal to shift its commercial airline operations to a new charter flight subsidiary, which would be subject to less stringent safety regulations.
In November 2023, the FAA announced a proposed rule to extend cockpit voice-recording to 25 hours for all newly manufactured aircraft. Currently, voice recorders are only required to retain 2 hours of data. The extended recordings will help investigators access more information to identify factors that lead to safety incidents.
In December 2023, the FAA issued a proposed rule to require certified repair stations located outside of the US to follow the FAA and USDOT’s drug and alcohol testing standards for employees who perform safety-sensitive maintenance on certain air carrier aircraft. The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO applauded this step toward greater oversight of 977 foreign repair stations in 65 countries.
Also in December 2023, the FAA announced the establishment of a Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Rulemaking Committee (ARC). By the end of March 2024, the ARC will recommend reforms to the FAA’s rules to break down barriers to mental health care for pilots and air traffic controllers. This action comes after an incident in October 2023, when an off-duty pilot sitting in the jump seat of an Alaska Airlines flight attempted to turn off the plane’s engines mid-flight. The flight crew restrained him and were able to prevent the engines from shutting down. He was subsequently charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, and his comments to investigators shed light on potential mental health challenges that may have contributed to his erratic behavior. This highlighted the urgency of modernizing the FAA’s rules so aviation professionals do not feel discouraged from reporting and seeking mental health care.
And as mentioned above, in December 2023, the FAA announced the creation of a three-member panel of fatigue experts to review the latest science and consider ways to improve controller scheduling and requirements to prevent fatigue. After the panel submits its final report in early 2024, it is possible that new proposals for rulemaking could emerge from their recommendations.
Enforcement action against unruly passengers
As air travel began to return to more normal operations in 2021 while COVID precautions were still in place, there was a spike in assaults and unruly behavior aboard flights. The FAA has cracked down on this behavior and has referred over 270 cases to the FBI for criminal prosecution since 2021. Secretary Buttigieg has warned, “Unruly behavior poses serious safety concerns for passengers and crew alike, which is why we are addressing this issue aggressively. If you act out on an airplane, you can face criminal prosecution and fines up to $37,000 per violation.” In 2022, the FAA levied $8.4 million in fines against unruly passengers.
Tightening the security of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system
In January 2023, an FAA contractor unintentionally deleted files in the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) database. As a safety precaution while restoring the system, the FAA issued a nationwide groundstop on January 11, 2023 between approximately 7:20 am and 8:50 am ET. Following this incident, the FAA adopted new safeguards, including a one-hour delay in the synchronization of databases to prevent data errors from immediately reaching the backup database. It also required that at least two people, including a federal manager, be present when doing any maintenance to the NOTAM system.
Secretary Buttigieg has also been urging Congress to properly fund the modernization of the NOTAM system.
Oversight of flight tests for space launches
The FAA has been conducting oversight to protect public safety as SpaceX conducts flight tests. In September 2023, the FAA completed an investigation of the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy mishap that occurred on April 20, 2023. It cited 63 corrective actions that SpaceX must take before it could resume Starship launches at Boca Chica, Texas. In November 2023, the FAA determined that SpaceX had made the required fixes and granted a license to conduct a second flight test. The second test also resulted in a mishap that the FAA is investigating. Neither flight test resulted in any injuries.
Stricter oversight of Boeing
During the Trump administration, a Boeing 737 MAX plane crashed in Indonesia in October 2018 killing all occupants on board, and less than a year later, another 737 MAX fatally crashed in Ethiopia in March 2019. Following the second crash, over 40 countries grounded the plane, but the FAA did not ground the aircraft until three days later. Investigators found that one major cause of both crashes was the design of Boeing’s software — called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) — that repeatedly pushed the jet’s nose down in response to a faulty sensor. The system was redesigned and production of the 737 MAX resumed in early 2020, and the FAA lifted the grounding order in November 2020.
In response to the problems that occurred with the approval of the 737 MAX design, in December 2020, Congress passed the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act to strengthen the FAA’s oversight of Boeing and reform its aircraft certification process. Under the Biden administration, the FAA has been implementing this new law and renewing its reputation as setting the gold standard in aviation safety. In February 2021, the FAA levied a $6.6 million fine on Boeing for failing to comply with a safety agreement and for exerting undue pressure on workers performing certification duties. In November 2021, the FAA testified before Congress that it was delegating fewer responsibilities to Boeing for aircraft certification. And as of March 2023, the FAA had 107 full-time staffers and 35 full-time-equivalent staffing resources dedicated to ensuring that Boeing follows regulations — up from 82 staffers a few years earlier.
In January 2024, a terrifying incident occurred that raised alarm bells that Boeing might have serious lapses in its quality control procedures during manufacturing. On January 5, 2024, seven minutes after Alaska Air Flight 1282 took off from Portland, Oregon, a door plug blew out of the aircraft, causing the cabin to suddenly and violently depressurize. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and the flight crew kept passengers safe while the plane made an emergency landing.
In response to this incident, the FAA took immediate action, issuing an emergency directive to ground all Boeing 737–9 MAX planes with door plugs. This affected 171 planes operated by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. Based on initial inspections, airlines reported that several of these aircraft had loose bolts holding the door plug in place. FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave an initial assessment that the incident was likely caused by a manufacturing problem — not a problem with the aircraft’s design.
When asked by reporters about the timeline for returning the aircraft to service, Secretary Buttigieg made it clear: “The only consideration for the timeline is safety. Until it is ready, it’s not ready. Nobody can or should be rushed in that process.”
On January 11th, the FAA notified Boeing that it was launching an investigation into whether the company failed to ensure that the aircraft was manufactured properly. The next day, the FAA also announced that it will conduct a broader review of Boeing’s production practices and oversight procedures — specifically, the FAA will:
- Audit Boeing’s 737–9 MAX production line and its suppliers, including subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems — and potentially conduct additional audits based on the findings.
- Increase monitoring of Boeing 737–9 MAX in-service events.
- Assess the safety risks of allowing Boeing to perform some of its own oversight functions — referred to as “delegated authority” — and examine options to have these functions performed by independent, third-party entities.
As a further precaution, on January 21st, the FAA recommended that airlines visually inspect mid-exit door plugs on Boeing 737–900ER aircraft. These are not part of the newer MAX fleet, but they have the same door plug design. So far, airlines have not found issues with the 737–900ER aircraft.
After reviewing data from 40 grounded planes that had undergone thorough inspections, on January 24th, the FAA approved an inspection and maintenance process that, once completed, would allow 737–9 MAX aircraft to return to service. After conducting the required inspections and maintenance, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines began returning the planes to operation on January 26th.
On January 24th, the FAA also made the unprecedented decision to block Boeing from expanding production of the 737 MAX until the FAA is satisfied that the company is prepared to handle the additional quality control work. “The quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable,” said FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker. “That is why we will have more boots on the ground closely scrutinizing and monitoring production and manufacturing activities.” The Administrator noted that dozens of FAA inspectors had been deployed. “We’re shifting from more of an audit approach to a direct inspection approach.”
6. Railway safety: Called on Congress to pass the Railway Safety Act and proposed many of the provisions in the bill, funded 70 rail safety projects, conducted over 7,500 focused inspections on hazmat routes, inspected over 76,000 miles of track and over 40,000 tank cars in 2023, supported rail workers in negotiating paid sick leave which now covers 87% of Class I rail workers, funded the elimination or improvement of over 400 at-grade crossings, required emergency escape breathing apparatuses on trains carrying hazmat, proposed rules for two-person crews and the disclosure of train accident information to emergency responders, and successfully pushed Norfolk Southern to join a Confidential Close Call Reporting System pilot program to enable about 1,000 rail workers to confidentially report unsafe events without fear of discipline.
Americans gained a heightened awareness of railway dangers on February 3, 2023, when a Norfolk Southern train derailed and released hazardous materials, which fueled extensive fires and led to the evacuation of about 2,000 residents of East Palestine, Ohio. Thankfully, no one was killed or injured, but this disaster upended the lives of residents and caused mass fear of toxins in the environment and potential health impacts. Despite EPA and state testing of the air, water, and soil that indicated that evacuees could safely return home, widespread mistrust made residents continue to feel uncertain about their safety. There is evidence that bad-faith actors also took advantage of the situation to spread panic and misinformation on social media.
Ohio’s Governor and federal EPA officials oversaw the emergency response, controlled burn of chemicals, toxin testing, and cleanup. USDOT personnel also arrived within hours of the derailment to support investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is independent from USDOT.
Secretary Buttigieg went to East Palestine later that month — breaking with the standard practice of past Transportation Secretaries who normally do not visit sites that are under NTSB investigation. (For instance, Secretary Elaine Chao never visited the sites of any of the over 5,000 train derailments that occurred during the Trump administration, including serious hazmat incidents that involved evacuations.) And over the past year, the Secretary has remained in regular communication with people who were impacted by this disaster. In an interview on February 2, 2024, Mayor Trent Conaway of East Palestine said, “Pete Buttigieg is — every time I’ve needed something and I called, even if it was 7:30 on a Friday night, he calls and answered. You know, I could hear kids in the background and playing. And so, I mean, you know, he stepped up, and I appreciate things like that.”
What happened in East Palestine has happened before — and the risk of it happening again would be much lower if Congress gave USDOT stronger tools and legal authority to prevent these tragedies. Unfortunately, similar types of railroad incidents have happened in the past with much less national attention. For example, in 2012, the exact same type of chemical (vinyl chloride) was released in a train derailment in Paulsboro, New Jersey, which led to 28 people going to the hospital. Over the past decade, on average, train accidents have released hazardous materials roughly once per month — the highest years were 2018 and 2020 when 20 incidents released hazardous materials. And overall, train derailments have happened about 3 times per day in the past decade — which is significantly lower than in previous decades, but still too frequent for comfort:
The railroad industry has aggressively litigated and lobbied against new safety regulations and legislation, arguing that trains are safer to transport hazardous materials than other forms of transportation. But Secretary Buttigieg rejects the industry’s excuses and says that policymakers and railroad companies have an obligation to prevent preventable accidents to ensure that communities never again experience what happened in East Palestine — which he discusses in this clip:
Below, here are actions that Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT have taken to tighten railroad safety, both before and after the derailment in East Palestine…
The Railway Safety Act
On February 21, 2023, Secretary Buttigieg outlined a three-pronged strategy to implement railroad safety reforms — which included: 1) Actions that railroad companies should immediately take if they are serious about safety; 2) Actions that USDOT would take; and 3) Actions that Congress should take.
The third prong — action by Congress — would be the most significant step to raise the standard for railroad safety. Secretary Buttigieg called on Congress to act by:
- Increasing the maximum fines that USDOT can issue to rail companies for violating safety regulations. The current maximum fine, even for an egregious violation involving hazard materials and resulting in fatalities, is $225,455. This is a rounding error for a company that reported an astonishing record annual operating income in 2022 of $4.8 billion and has posted operating margins approaching 40%.
- Following through on new bipartisan support to expand and strengthen rules governing high-hazardous shipments, including high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT), pushing past industry opposition.
- Following through on new bipartisan support to modernize braking regulations and increase the use of electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP).
- Speeding up the phase-in of safer (DOT 117) tank cars to carry hazardous materials. Congress established a phase-in schedule under the 2015 FAST Act which gives owners of tank cars until 2029 to fully adopt stronger (DOT 117) tank cars. The original 2015 HHFT Rule required the phase-in by 2025. Congress can act now to speed, rather than slow, this important safety measure.
- Increasing funding to expand hazardous materials training for first responders.
A week after Secretary Buttigieg announced this proposal, the bipartisan Railway Safety Act (S.576) was introduced in the Senate, led by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and J.D. Vance (R-OH). The bill included nearly everything that the Secretary called for, with the exception of provisions for electronically controlled pneumatic brakes. It also included provisions for regulating wayside defect detectors and two-person crews (which would mandate USDOT’s proposed rule on two-person crews). A companion version of the bill was introduced in the House (H.R.1674) a few weeks later, led by Rep. Christopher Deluzio (D-PA) and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY).
In May 2023, the bill was passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. However, the vote largely split along partisan lines, with all Democrats voting in favor and all but two Republicans voting in opposition. During the committee markup, the bill was amended to push back the date of the stronger tank cars to December 2027 (rather than the originally-proposed year of 2025).
Since then, the bill has been awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.
To push Congress to move the Railway Safety Act forward, Secretary Buttigieg has advocated for the bill in almost every media interview he’s done regarding railroad safety. During a House hearing in September 2023, he repeatedly asked Republican members of Congress if they would support of the bill — and none of them answered:
On Fox News in September 2023, Secretary Buttigieg called out the hypocrisy of many House Republicans for using the tragedy in East Palestine to score political points while simultaneously refusing to come out in support of the Railway Safety Act:
Today is not only the third anniversary of Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership at USDOT, it is the somber one-year anniversary of the East Palestine train derailment — and Congress still has not acted. According to a Washington Post story today:
“Over the past year, the nation’s five largest rail operators together spent roughly $17 million to lobby lawmakers, while donating generously to key members of Congress who oversee transportation issues, according to federal records. Some of the chief beneficiaries of industry cash were Republicans, who initially attacked the Biden administration over its handling of the East Palestine derailment before opposing or slowing down safety legislation.
In doing so, rail industry lobbyists also fought the Biden administration on even the most basic upgrades, from efforts to ensure that engineers have special breathing equipment onboard to new rules that would require miles-long trains to be staffed with more than one person. The staunch opposition has bogged down some federal action while leaving Congress unable to hold a single vote on rail safety legislation in the House or Senate.”
Washington Post, “A year after East Palestine derailment, rail industry blocks new safety rules” (February 3, 2024)
During a press conference this week, Secretary Buttigieg joined rail labor leaders to push Congress to stand up to rail industry lobbyists and pass the Railway Safety Act.
Investments in rail safety
The IIJA more than tripled the amount of funding authorized for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program, which is USDOT’s main grant program for repairing and improving the safety of rail infrastructure. Since 2021, Secretary Buttigieg and FRA have awarded about $1.8 billion in CRISI grants. These grants have funded 70 rail safety projects. Some examples: The Great Lakes Central Railroad received about $21 million to rehabilitate track north of Ann Arbor, Michigan, preventing derailments by installing over 4 miles of new rail, eliminating joints on 41 mainline track miles, replacing or repairing 11 bridges and culverts, and installing about 30,000 ties. Kentucky received more than $29.5 million to improve the Paducah and Louisville Railway’s 280-mile main line, upgrading multiple bridges, rehabilitating locomotives, and improving track in a local rail yard.
One particularly dangerous part of America’s rail system are highway-rail at-grade crossings, which account for about 30% of all rail-related deaths. These crossings can also create safety hazards if they get blocked by trains, obstructing the passage of emergency vehicles. To reduce the number of places where tracks intersect with roads, the IIJA established a brand new Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program. In June 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced the first round of grants from this new program, awarding $570 million to address over 400 at-grade crossings in 32 states. These projects will make it easier to get around railroad tracks by adding grade separations, closing at-grade crossings, and improving existing at-grade crossings. For example, Houston, Texas received nearly $37 million to build a 9,000 foot sealed corridor, construct four underpasses, and eliminate at-grade crossings where hundreds of train blockages have been reported each year.
Secretary Buttigieg has also funded railroad crossing elimination projects through other grant programs. For instance, through the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, he awarded $12 million to eliminate a railroad crossing in Millen, Georgia in December 2023. Here’s local news coverage of the Secretary’s visit to Millen — this news segment discusses the safety hazards of blocked railroad crossings and explains why the USDOT grant matters for the community:
Rail inspections and audits
Secretary Buttigieg’s rail safety strategy (released on February 21, 2023) called for “initiating a focused safety inspection program on routes over which high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) and other trains carrying large volumes of hazardous material travel.” FRA initiated this High-Hazard Flammable Train Route Assessment on March 1, 2023. Between March and August 2023, federal and state inspectors conducted over 7,500 inspections, 173 of which included recommended violations.
In 2023 alone, FRA inspected over 40,000 freight cars, 76,888 miles of track, and thousands of wayside detectors on more than 25 railroads. It also conducted focused inspections on tank cars.
Under FRA regulations, railroad companies are also required to conduct visual track inspections performed by qualified inspectors. Under the Trump administration in 2018, six railroad companies sought approval from FRA to reduce the frequency of these visual inspections and test the use of automated track inspections as a substitute. Labor unions have opposed this reduction in visual inspections, pointing out that automated inspections can only detect a fraction of the defects that can cause derailments. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED) estimates that over 50% of the track defects that caused rail accidents between 2016 and 2021 could not have been detected by automated track inspection technology. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, FRA has stopped issuing new waivers that allow railroad companies to reduce visual inspections. As the Secretary has said, railroad companies are allowed to use automated inspections as a supplement to visual inspections — but not as a replacement for visual inspections:
For the first time, FRA has also begun auditing the safety culture of individual railroad companies. In August 2023, FRA released a first-of-its-kind 143-page safety assessment of Norfolk Southern, and it plans to conduct similar culture reviews of other major freight railroads. FRA’s assessment of Norfolk Southern found significant weaknesses in how the railroad manages its wayside detector alerts and communicates information about these alerts. It also found that workers need ways to anonymously report safety close calls without fear of discipline, and it recommended that the company set aside more time for safety training during on duty hours.
That said, FRA’s inspections and audits would be more effective if it had more legal authority to punish railroad companies that fail to follow safety regulations — which is why Secretary Buttigieg has been advocating for the Railway Safety Act, which would enable FRA to levy much higher fines on railroad companies that commit serious safety violations. Without this ability to issue stronger penalties, it can be difficult to compel railroad companies to correct defects. For example, in the summer of 2023, federal inspectors found an extremely high defect rate in Union Pacific’s locomotives and railcars at the world’s largest railyard in western Nebraska. In September 2023, the FRA distributed a letter calling out Union Pacific for blatantly disregarding the findings of federal inspectors and continuing to operate trains that were found to have defects.
Rulemaking related to rail safety
In July 2022, FRA issued a proposed rule requiring a minimum of two train crewmembers for over-the-road railroad operations, allowing some exceptions for certain low-risk operations that are approved by FRA based on a thorough risk assessment. USDOT estimates that a final rule will be issued in 2024. Labor unions have called for this rule, pointing to disastrous train crashes that might have been prevented if more than one crew member had been aboard — such as the 2013 Lac-Megantic oil train wreck in Quebec, Canada that killed 47 people. A two-person crew rule had originally been proposed by the Obama administration in 2016, but the Trump administration withdrew the proposal in 2019. The Trump administration went even further to roll back safety rules by claiming to nullify all state laws and regulations that establish minimum crew standards. In February 2021, a federal court ruled that the Trump administration’s order could not preempt state safety rules.
In June 2023, the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which is also part of USDOT, proposed a new rule that would require all railroads to immediately send the details of all substances aboard their trains to every emergency responder within 10 miles, as soon as the railroad becomes aware of an accident. Nearly 600 railroads would be covered by this rule. The International Association of Fire Fighters has applauded this proposed rule, which will help protect public safety and firefighters’ safety by alerting them about any hazardous chemicals at an accident site.
In August 2023, PHMSA formally suspended a Trump-era rule that would have allowed railroads to transport highly flammable liquefied natural gas. PHMSA determined that more time was needed to study the safety concerns related to shipping natural gas and other substances like hydrogen that must be kept at very low temperatures.
To help with future investigations of rail incidents, in October 2023, FRA issued a final rule requiring passenger trains to install inward- and outward-facing cameras, mandating that at least 12 hours of footage needs to be retained and stored in a crashworthy memory module.
Also in response to the derailment in East Palestine, in January 2024, FRA issued a final rule to require railroads to provide emergency escape breathing apparatuses for train crew members and other employees who are on freight trains carrying hazardous material. Railroads are required to properly maintain the equipment and train employees on how to use it.
Unfortunately, past actions by Congress have constrained some of USDOT’s authority to regulate railroad safety. Specifically, the FAST Act of 2015 included provisions that ultimately led to the mandatory repeal of an Obama-era rule regarding electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, and it codified a relatively weak definition of “high-hazard flammable train”. The FAST Act also pushed back the deadline for using stronger tank cars for transporting certain hazardous materials until 2029, which regulators had originally required by 2025. Secretary Buttigieg has called for Congress to address these safety measures that were undermined by the FAST Act.
Paid sick leave for rail workers
In November 2022, a nationwide railroad strike was looming after 4 out of 12 rail labor unions voted not to ratify their tentative labor agreements. Without unanimous ratification, all 12 unions were poised to strike on December 9, 2022. A strike would have led to widespread shortages of food, fuel, and clean drinking water, and over 750,000 workers would have lost their jobs in the first two weeks. Ultimately, Congress overwhelmingly voted to block the strike by a margin of 80–15 in the Senate and 290–137 in the House.
The primary sticking point in the labor negotiations was the lack of paid sick leave for rail workers — which can cause safety problems if workers are unwell while performing their duties. When Congress moved to avert the strike in December 2022, Secretary Buttigieg promised that the Biden administration would continue to work on this issue. This promise was kept. Throughout 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and other Biden administration officials worked behind the scenes to push railroad companies to return to the bargaining table and make concessions. By the end of 2023, the percent of Class I rail workers with paid sick leave had risen dramatically to 87% — before 2023, the percentage had been close to zero. According to The Guardian:
“When Joe Biden and Congress enacted legislation in December that blocked a threatened freight rail strike, many workers angrily faulted Biden for not ensuring that the legislation also guaranteed paid sick days. But since then, union officials says, members of the Biden administration, including the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and labor secretary, Marty Walsh, who stepped down on 11 March, lobbied the railroads, telling them it was wrong not to grant paid sick days.”
The Guardian, “US rail companies grant paid sick days after public pressure in win for unions” (May 1, 2023)
In June 2023, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) announced that its members at four of the largest freight railroads had won a paid sick leave agreement. IBEW’s announcement included this statement:
“We’re thankful that the Biden administration played the long game on sick days and stuck with us for months after Congress imposed our updated national agreement. Without making a big show of it, Joe Biden and members of his administration in the Transportation and Labor departments have been working continuously to get guaranteed paid sick days for all railroad workers. We know that many of our members weren’t happy with our original agreement, but through it all, we had faith that our friends in the White House and Congress would keep up the pressure on our railroad employers to get us the sick day benefits we deserve.”
Al Russo, IBEW Railroad Department Director (June 20, 2023)
Following this announcement, IBEW thanked Secretary Buttigieg:
Rail safety advisories
In 2023, FRA issued safety advisories warning that train makeup, train length, and track damage caused by high-impact wheels have been a factor in recent train accidents, and they recommend steps to mitigate these risks. FRA also issued safety advisories on the use and maintenance of hot bearing wayside detectors and the prevention of weather-related train accidents.
Just to note, the safety impacts of train length is currently being studied by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This study was mandated by Congress and sponsored by FRA. It began in September 2023 and is expected to be completed in June 2024.
FRA’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System
After the derailment in East Palestine, Secretary Buttigieg called on Class I freight railroads to join FRA’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS), which allows rail workers to report safety hazards without fear of reprisal. This program has existed since 2007, but no major freight railroad had ever joined. In March 2023, the major freight railroads responded to the Secretary in a letter agreeing to join the program. However, in the months that followed, these railroads sought changes to the program before officially joining. In an August 2023 letter to Secretary Buttigieg, these companies said that their main concern is over the handling of “known events” in which the company is aware that an employee committed a safety violation but the employee reports the violation to avoid being disciplined. They argued that the C3RS program should be changed so employees may only gain immunity from discipline once every five years instead of once every three years.
In January 2024, Norfolk Southern became the first Class I freight railroad to officially join a C3RS pilot program in partnership with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division (SMART-TD). Under this agreement, about 1,000 Norfolk Southern employees represented by BLET and SMART-TD in Atlanta, Georgia; Elkhart, Indiana; and Roanoke, Virginia will be able to confidentially report unsafe events that they experience while being protected from discipline by Norfolk Southern.
The Secretary and FRA continue to push the other Class I freight railroads to make good on their promise to join the C3RS program.
7. Truck driver safety: Awarded over $285 million for projects that specifically build new truck parking spaces, released a Crime Prevention for Truckers Survey and gathered recommendations on preventing assault and harassment, and expanded funding for truck safety grants by 61%.
Truck parking
The American Trucking Associations estimates that “there are more than 11 truck drivers for every one parking space. Studies show that 98% of drivers report problems finding safe truck parking, and the average driver spends 56 minutes of available drive time every day looking for parking... Moreover, 58% of all drivers admit to parking in unauthorized or undesignated spots at least three times per week to meet their parking needs.”
Lack of truck parking is not only a costly inconvenience, it is a safety hazard. According to FMCSA data, in 2020, there were 4,000 injury-causing accidents involving trucks parked near interstate ramps. 55 of these accidents were fatal. When drivers cannot find a safe place to rest, this can also lead to fatigue and increase the risk of accidents. Truck drivers sometimes have little choice but to park in insecure locations — which is what happened to Jason Rivenburg, who was murdered at an abandoned gas station while parked there overnight in March 2009. In 2012, Congress passed Jason’s Law named in his memory. This law created an annual survey to measure the volume of truck traffic and the adequacy of each state’s truck parking facilities.
Secretary Buttigieg has awarded over $285 million specifically to build new truck parking spaces:
- $15 million in INFRA grants to add about 120 new truck parking spaces along the I-4 corridor in Florida between Tampa and Orlando.
- $22.6 million in INFRA grants to add about 125 parking spaces along I-40 near Memphis, Tennessee.
- $22.9 million in RAISE grants to construct a secure truck parking plaza with 20 short-term and 100 long-term spaces in Caldwell County, Texas.
- $10.5 million in RAISE grants to construct a truck parking facility with 50 spaces in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana.
- $26.6 million through the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program to build 368 truck parking spaces along Interstate 80 in Evanston, Wyoming.
- $180 million in INFRA grants to build over 900 truck parking spaces along I-4 in central Florida.
- $8 million in INFRA grants for Wisconsin DOT to reconstruct a rest area along I-90, expanding the number of parking spots from 16 to 70.
And in many cases, USDOT has been funding projects that include new truck parking as one component. For example, in January 2024, Secretary Buttigieg awarded a $92 million INFRA grant to reconstruct 191 miles of I-70 in Missouri. As one part of this large project, new truck parking facilities will be constructed.
USDOT is also funding information management systems that help truck drivers find available parking spaces. In January 2024, Secretary Buttigieg awarded a $12 million INFRA grant to deploy a regional information system in Washington state, California, and Wyoming at 54 truck parking facilities along the I-5 corridor.
And more grant awards are on the way. In September 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced the availability of $80 million that can be used for truck parking projects, as well as technologies to help truck drivers find available spaces.
To encourage more of these projects, USDOT published a Truck Parking Development Handbook in September 2022. This handbook describes how to do cost-benefit analyses for truck parking projects, what considerations should go into locating and designing truck parking, and how to encourage and require truck parking through zoning and planning policies. USDOT also issued a memo that identified eight federal grant programs (with $47.4 billion in total funding) that can be used to develop truck parking.
Secretary Buttigieg visited South Dakota in September 2023 to meet with truck drivers and bring attention to the issue of truck parking:
Other initiatives to protect truck drivers’ safety
The risk of being the target of crime, assault, and harassment is a major concern in the trucking industry, and it’s a barrier to recruiting more women truck drivers — in 2022, only 13.7% of professional drivers were women. In November 2022, Secretary Buttigieg convened USDOT’s first-ever Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB), which includes 16 women who collectively have over 275 years of experience in the trucking and transportation industry. WOTAB has been reviewing FMCSA’s Crime Prevention for Truckers Survey and advising USDOT on ways to improve drivers’ safety.
In December 2023, FMCSA released a Notice of Enforcement Policy to increase awareness of sexual assault against truck drivers and clarify that anyone who is convicted of using a commercial motor vehicle to commit a felony — including any nonconsensual sexual act, including when the victim lacks capacity to consent — must be disqualified from operating a vehicle that requires a commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s permit.
FMCSA has also been promoting truck safety through its Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, which is a formula grant program that aims to prevent crashes, fatalities, and injuries involving commercial motor vehicles. The IIJA increased funding for this program by 61%, enabling FMCSA to award $471 million to 56 states and territories in June 2023. These funds are used for driver and vehicle inspections, traffic enforcement, investigations, data collection, and public education and awareness.
8. Transit worker safety: Proposed a General Directive to require transit agencies to assess safety risks and develop strategies to prevent assaults against transit workers, funded research on how to prevent assaults, and began rulemaking to ensure that transit workers have adequate rest.
Preventing assaults against transit workers
The number of major assault events against transit workers — situations in which medical transport is required due to an injury or fatality — has risen at a disturbing rate over the past decade. In just the two-year period between 2017 and 2019, the number of these incidents jumped by 73%. The number declined in 2020 as ridership fell during the COVID pandemic. But as ridership has started to return, these incidents have surged again, with 492 major assaults occurring in 2022. And these numbers are likely missing other serious assaults that deserve public attention. To expand FTA’s access to data, the IIJA now requires all transit agencies to report data on all assaults on transit workers starting in 2023.
In April 2023, FTA proposed an update to the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans rule to require that transit agencies establish safety committees composed of equal numbers of frontline workers and managers. The proposed rule would also require transit agencies to create risk reduction programs to reduce accidents, injuries, and assaults on transit workers.
In August 2023, FTA announced a $500,000 research grant to the University of South Florida to help transit agencies address transit worker and rider assaults.
In December 2023, FTA proposed a General Directive requiring all transit agencies to “conduct a safety risk assessment, identify safety risk mitigations or strategies, and provide information to FTA on how it is assessing, mitigating, and monitoring the safety risk associated with assaults on transit workers.” This proposal is open for public comment until February 20, 2024. Once the final General Directive is issued, transit agencies will have 60 days to submit the required information to FTA.
Ensuring adequate rest for transit workers
In October 2023, FTA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to begin developing minimum safety standards to ensure that transit workers receive adequate rest and reduce the risk of fatigue. In the notice, FTA requested public comment on transit workers’ hours of service and fatigue risk management programs. In December 2023, FTA held a virtual listening session to gather public comments and insights.
9. Pipeline and hazmat safety: Awarded $196 million to repair or replace nearly 270 miles of pipe, finalized a rule to require remotely controlled or automatic shut-off valves, and proposed rules to reduce the risk of overpressurized pipelines and require technologies to detect leaks.
A lesser-known fact about USDOT is that it regulates the transport of hazardous materials, including transport via pipeline. Below, here are actions that Secretary Buttigieg and PHMSA have taken to tighten pipeline and hazmat safety:
Investments in pipeline and hazardous material safety
The IIJA established a brand new Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program that will provide nearly $1 billion in funding over five years to modernize natural gas distribution pipes and protect communities from pipeline leaks. In April 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and PHMSA awarded the first round of NGDISM grants—$196 million for 37 projects across 19 states. These projects will repair, replace, or rehabilitate nearly 270 miles of pipe. The next round of funding will be $392 million — PHMSA started accepting applications for the second round in May 2023.
Since 2021, PHMSA has also awarded hundreds of millions of dollars from other programs:
- In September 2021, PHMSA awarded $58 million in Pipeline Safety State Base Grants and $4.8 million in Underground Natural Gas Storage (UNGS) Grants to support state inspection and enforcement efforts, personnel reimbursement, equipment, and essential activities costs to participating states. In August 2023, PHMSA awarded $60.5 million and $3.9 million from these two programs, respectively.
- Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grants are used to fund emergency planning for states, territories, and Tribes and also fund hazmat training for first responders. Through this program, PHMSA awarded $21 million in 2021, $24.2 million in 2022, and $22 million in 2023.
- PHMSA funds training for safety instructors, volunteers, and state and local officials. These include grants for Hazardous Materials Instructor Training, Assistance for Local Emergency Response Training, Supplemental Public Sector Training, and Community Safety. PHMSA awarded $7.7 million from these programs in 2021, $7.7 million in 2022, and $8.2 million in 2023.
- PHMSA has grants for pipeline safety educational programs and the advancement of technologies. These include the Competitive Academic Agreement Program, One-Call Grants, the State Damage Prevention Program Grants, and Technical Assistance Grants. PHMSA awarded $6.7 million from these programs in 2021 and $8.9 million in 2023.
- In September 2023, PHMSA awarded $5.8 million in Pipeline Emergency Response Grants to train emergency responders to respond to pipeline incidents.
Rulemaking to tighten pipeline safety standards
In December 2021, PHMSA issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that designates the Great Lakes, coastal beaches, and marine coastal waters as “Unusually Sensitive Areas,” so these areas will need to follow stricter Integrity Management Program requirements. The final rule is estimated to be issued in early 2024.
In March 2022, PHMSA issued a final rule to require new pipelines to have remotely controlled or automatic shut-off valves, or alternative equivalent technologies. These valves can more quickly shut down pipelines when an incident occurs. An example of why this matters: In a 2010 incident in Marshall, Michigan, a pipeline leaked over 840,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River for 17 hours before the operator shut it off.
In July 2022, PHMSA issued a final rule to harmonize US hazardous materials regulations with international standards. This rule also fully accepted non-animal tests for skin corrosion, which should reduce companies’ use of animal testing.
In August 2022, PHMSA issued a final rule to establish new standards for identifying threats, potential failures, and worst-case scenarios for more than 300,000 miles of onshore gas transmission pipelines. This rule was based on lessons learned from a 2010 gas pipeline incident in San Bruno, California, which led to the death of 8 people and injured over 60 others.
In May 2023, PHMSA proposed a new rule to require the use of advanced technologies to find and fix leaks of methane and other hazardous gases. This is an important update to decades-old federal leak detection and repair standards that rely solely on human senses. The bipartisan PIPES Act of 2020 directed PHMSA to develop this rule. “On a bipartisan basis, Congress came to the common-sense conclusion that it is finally time to deploy modern technologies to find and repair pipeline leaks to prevent waste of valuable products and protect people and the environment,” said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown.
In August 2023, PHMSA proposed a new rule in response to a series of gas pipeline explosions that occurred in 2018 in Massachusetts. This 2018 disaster led to the death of a teenager, injured about two dozen people, and destroyed or damaged over 130 properties. “As the tragic death of Leonel Rondon in 2018 reminded us, more must be done to ensure the safety of those pipelines,” Secretary Buttigieg said. PHMSA’s proposed rule would require new procedures to reduce the risk of overpressurized pipelines.
Enforcement actions against pipeline safety violations
Some examples of notable enforcement action that PHMSA has taken:
- In May 2022, PHMSA proposed civil penalties of nearly $1 million against Colonial Pipeline Company for multiple safety violations. Colonial Pipeline’s failure to prepare for a manual restart and shutdown operation contributed to disruptions when the pipeline remained out of service after the May 2021 ransomware attack.
- In May 2022, PHMSA proposed civil penalties of over $3.8 million against Denbury Gulf Coast Pipeline, LLC for multiple safety violations that contributed to a CO2 pipeline failure in Satartia, Mississippi in 2020. This failure caused local evacuations, and nearly 50 people needed medical attention.
- In July 2023, Belle Fourche Pipeline Company and Bridger Pipeline LLC agreed to pay a $12.5 million civil penalty for violating the Clean Water Act, pipeline safety laws, and North Dakota state laws relating to oil spills in Montana and North Dakota. PHMSA was part of this enforcement action along with other federal and state agencies.
10. Merchant mariner safety: Coordinated with US national defense agencies to communicate safety alerts to the US maritime industry in response to Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea. Worked to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the US maritime industry by enforcing new EMBARC standards to protect midshipmen, tightening law enforcement at USMMA, creating a new amnesty policy at USMMA so victims feel safer to disclose assaults, and working with Congress to enact new legal requirements for US-flagged ships.
US maritime alerts and advisories
MARAD provides support and information to current US mariners, coordinating with the US Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, the Intelligence Community, and the Global Maritime Operational Threat Response Coordination Center to issue safety alerts and advisories to the US maritime industry through the US Maritime Advisory System. These notices are posted on a MARAD-hosted web portal and MARAD helps to disseminate this information to Vessel Masters, Company Security Officers, ship operators, US mariners, US maritime unions and professional associations, and US mariner related non-governmental organizations.
In late 2023 and early 2024, US mariners and cargo ships faced an onslaught of attacks and international threats following the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 and during Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Houthi rebels occupying parts of Yemen hijacked an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea in November 2023 and have conducted dozens of attacks on commercial ships in the region using drones, missiles, and speed boats. Typically, 15% of global maritime trade passes through the Red Sea. But the recent attacks have caused major shipping companies to avoid the region and use a much longer route around southern Africa instead.
“These attacks in the Red Sea are unlawful and reckless. The safety of US mariners is our priority, and MARAD is in coordination with DOD and US-flagged vessels to ensure their security,” Secretary Buttigieg said in a statement on January 11, 2024.
The US Navy has protected US mariners throughout the crisis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. USDOT and MARAD’s main role is to facilitate the communication of important information between national defense agencies and US maritime industry stakeholders. MARAD has disseminated alerts regarding multiple projectiles in the Red Sea, Red Sea hijacking, multiple threats in the Indian Ocean, multiple threats in the Southern Red Sea, boarding at sea in the Arabian Sea, and the potential retaliatory attacks by Houthi forces in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and the continued threat of retaliatory attacks.
In January 2024, USDOT’s Multimodal Freight Office and MARAD convened a stakeholder call to provide updates about the situation in the Red Sea and hear concerns from the maritime industry about mariner safety and supply chain impacts.
Stopping sexual assault and harassment in the US maritime industry
USDOT and MARAD oversee the US Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), located at Kings Point, New York. One of the most serious safety concerns at the academy has been a recurring pattern of sexual assault and harassment incidents on campus and during Sea Year duty. In the 2014–2015 academic year, student surveys revealed that 17% of women and 2% of men had endured some form of sexual assault — however, only one student officially reported an incident, suggesting a culture of fear around disclosing assaults. In late September 2021, a USMMA midshipman disclosed her rape by an engineer on a Maersk ship while she was serving on Sea Year duty.
In response to this shocking case, in early November 2021, Secretary Buttigieg, Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg, and Acting MARAD Administrator Lucinda Lessley decided to pause Sea Year training until new measures were implemented to protect midshipmen’s safety. (Sea Year training typically consists of a 4-month sailing period during a midshipman’s sophomore year and an 8-month sailing period during a midshipman’s junior year.) Some members of the USMMA community criticized the Sea Year pause, fearing that it would hurt midshipmen’s ability to complete their required training. But USDOT stood firm that safety must be a top priority and assured that the new safety measures would be deployed quickly enough for midshipmen to earn their licenses on time.
In December 2021, USDOT released a plan that would allow Sea Year training to resume safely. The plan included two components:
- MARAD released guidance for a new Every Mariner Builds a Respectful Culture (EMBARC) program that includes over 30 new safety standards that commercial carriers must meet before they are allowed to carry USMMA cadets. EMBARC includes safety measures such as new mandatory training for officers and crew, video monitoring in the passageways of ships, secure locks and a list of all master-key holders, and new requirements for incident reporting. EMBARC also includes processes to continuously review and improve the program — in March 2022, MARAD started accepting public comments on recommended improvements.
- USMMA adopted new policies and procedures, such as providing cadets with additional pre-Sea Year training and a satellite phone so they can communicate with family, friends, USMMA personnel, and other support resources while at sea. Also, to remove barriers to disclosing sexual assault, USMMA issued a new amnesty policy so that victims, intervening bystanders, and witnesses are not punished for alcohol or drug use occurring at or near the time of the assault.
On December 22, 2021, Sea Year resumed on government ships operated by the Military Sealift Command, US Coast Guard, and US Navy, as well as training vessels operated by State Maritime Academies. Within four months after the pause was lifted, 5 commercial carriers had gained EMBARC approval. By September 2022, 14 commercial carriers had enrolled in EMBARC and 135 USMMA cadets had earned sea time on 33 EMBARC-enrolled commercial vessels. All qualified midshipmen in the Class of 2023 were projected to earn the sea time required to take licensing exams on time.
In August 2022, MARAD created the Office of Cadet Training At-Sea Safety to oversee the implementation of EMBARC and serve as the primary office for developing and administering policies and procedures related to the safety of cadets at sea.
In October 2022, USDOT and the State of New York announced the implementation of concurrent jurisdiction at USMMA to ensure that victims can access assistance from local authorities regarding felony and misdemeanor crimes on campus property, including sexual assault and harassment. Under the new agreement, the Nassau County and Kings Point Police Departments now have authority to investigate misdemeanor sex crimes and most felonies, including sexual assault, occurring on USMMA property.
In November 2022, Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD Administrator Ann Phillips announced the appointment of Rear Admiral Joanna Nunan (US Coast Guard, Ret.) to serve as the superintendent of USMMA, following the retirement of the previous superintendent in June 2022. Rear Admiral Nunan served for over three decades in the US Coast Guard and is the first woman to serve as superintendent in USMMA’s history. She has experience addressing issues of sexual abuse, having previously served as a member of the Coast Guard’s Sexual Assault Prevention, Response, and Recovery Committee.
In July 2023, Secretary Buttigieg formed the USMMA Advisory Council to advise the Secretary on ways to improve the academy, including measures to prevent sexual assault.
MARAD has also encouraged the six State Maritime Academies to not place midshipmen on commercial carriers that do not comply with EMBARC. In Congressional testimony in May 2023, MARAD Administrator Phillips said that all six state academies had agreed to develop policies modeled on EMBARC. Before receiving National Security Multi-mission Vessels funded by MARAD, state academies will be required to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement that includes policies based on EMBARC.
To expand efforts to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the maritime industry, USDOT and MARAD worked with Congress on the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) enacted in December 2022. This law gives MARAD authority to withhold payments from companies participating in the Maritime Security Program, the Cable Security Fleet Program, and Tanker Security Program if they are not in compliance with EMBARC. MARAD is working to implement an EMBARC rule based on the authority provided by the NDAA. The NDAA also requires that owners and operators of US-flagged ships report sexual harassment and assault complaints and incidents to the US Coast Guard for investigation.
11. 5G C-Band rollout: Prevented a nationwide aviation crisis by negotiating with telecommunications companies to delay the 5G C-Band rollout near airports and requiring airlines to retrofit their altimeters, which resulted in a safe and successful 5G C-Band rollout on July 1, 2023.
In early January 2022, the US aviation system faced a looming crisis: Telecommunications companies were planning to turn on 5G signals over the C-Band spectrum, and the FAA and airline industry warned that this could dangerously interfere with altimeters on aircraft. The FAA would need to prohibit thousands of flights from landing in low-visibility conditions at airports where 5G signals were present.
This ProPublica article describes the long backstory of how this issue came to a head. During the Trump administration, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started auctioning C-Band licenses in December 2020, ignoring warnings from the FAA and aviation experts. And as the Biden administration took office, the FCC continued to not intervene in response to the FAA’s concerns. In November 2021, the FAA issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin about the potential adverse impacts of the 5G rollout, which raised alarm bells and prompted the telecom industry to agree to delay the rollout by one month to January 5, 2022.
But this one-month delay was not enough, and tensions rose as the January 5th date approached. In December 2021, the White House decided to put Secretary Buttigieg in charge of the negotiations. According to Rep. Peter DeFazio:
“Now we’ve got Pete Buttigieg… He’s a very smart guy. He’s learned a lot. He’s also very politically astute. We were having a huge fight over Christmas — the telecom industry wanted to turn on 5G, and they had withheld all the data. The airline industry, the manufacturers, said, ‘We think that it will affect avionics to the point where we’re not going to be able to fly planes in limited visibility.’ Which would mean that basically about half of the traffic or more than half in the US would be grounded. And the (telecom) industry was very recalcitrant — they said, ‘We’re just going to turn it on.’
I had been dealing with this, and finally I had to call the White House Chief of Staff, because they had the economic adviser negotiating with the telecoms. I said, ‘It’s not happening. You need to put more juice into this.’ He put Secretary Buttigieg in charge, and the Secretary got a six-month agreement out of the telecoms.”
Rep. Peter DeFazio, Chair of the House Transportation Committee (February 16, 2022)
On January 3, 2022, Secretary Buttigieg persuaded telecom companies to delay the rollout by another two weeks and to establish modest 5G-free buffer zones around 50 airports for 6 months. But during those weeks, altimeter testing made it clear that the buffer zones would need to be much larger. On January 18th, Secretary Buttigieg secured an agreement with telecom companies to expand the buffer zone to 3 miles around 87 airports. When Verizon and AT&T switched on their networks on January 19th, they left over 600 of their 5G towers dark to comply with the buffer zone.
By all accounts, Secretary Buttigieg played a central role in bringing together the FAA, airlines, and the telecom industry to communicate and collaborate on a path forward. In an interview in February 2022, reporter Rebecca Quick said to the Secretary: “We’ve talked about the 5G rollout… I’ve heard from people who are in the know on this that you were pretty essential behind the scenes in getting all sides to come to the table.” Harold Feld, a senior VP at the consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, told Ars Technica: “Had not Secretary Buttigieg personally intervened and the White House personally intervened and forced the FAA to actually stand this process up, then they still wouldn’t have stood it up on their own.”
In June 2022, the FAA announced an agreement between the aviation and telecom industries on a strategy for retrofitting altimeters so that 5G C-Band signals could be activated near airports by July 2023.
In January 2023, the FAA proposed an Airworthiness Directive that set two deadlines:
- Starting July 1, 2023, aircraft would be restricted from landing at airports affected by the 5G C-Band rollout unless they are equipped with 5G C-Band-tolerant altimeters or install a radio frequency filter.
- By February 1, 2024, aircraft must be equipped to safely operate in the vicinity of 5G C-Band signals.
When this directive was proposed, the FAA estimated that altimeters would need to be replaced in about 180 aircraft and radio altimeter filters would need to be installed in another 820 aircraft.
Airline trade groups tried to push back the July 1, 2023 deadline, arguing that many airlines would not be able to retrofit their altimeters in that timeframe. But in May 2023, Secretary Buttigieg held a call with airlines to make it clear that July 1st was a hard deadline and there would be no extension.
About a week before the deadline, in a letter to trade group Airlines for America, the Secretary warned that, if airlines do not retrofit their altimeters in time, any non-retrofitted planes would be prohibited from landing in low-visibility conditions at affected airports. He urged airlines to adjust their schedules if needed and warned that they would be penalized if they schedule more flights than their retrofitted planes can operate.
On July 1, 2023, during the busy Fourth of July travel weekend, 5G C-Band service was activated near airports. The rollout was smooth with no major flight disruptions.
In an interview a few weeks later, Secretary Buttigieg said the rollout had gone better than expected but it “took a lot of pressure” on the airlines. “It took multiple moments where we had to really just make sure they could read our body language that we really were serious… I don’t think the airlines believed us early on.”
The FAA has declared: “As of the end of September 2023, the entire US airline fleet has upgraded their equipment and the risk of 5G interference has been mitigated.”
Economic Competitiveness
12. Supply chains: Helped US ports eliminate backlogs by setting up pop-up container yards, removing long-dwelling containers, and moving to 24/7 operations; launched the Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) data-sharing initiative to help shippers and ports optimize their operations; invested $1.6 billion in port upgrades; funded repairs to over 7,800 bridges; awarded $1.8 billion to improve freight rail capacity and efficiency; designated 4 new US marine highways; launched the Multimodal Freight Office; supported careers in trucking by funding truck parking and helping to recruit women and veterans into the industry; and proposed a rule to remove unnecessary barriers to earning a commercial driver’s license.
In early 2020, the COVID pandemic sent shockwaves through global supply chains in multiple ways. As people self-isolated, their consumption habits suddenly changed, and there was a surge in demand for certain products like home office supplies and electronics, much of which is manufactured in China and other parts of Asia. There was also high demand for medical supplies. But there was not enough supply to meet this demand as many factories in China shut down during the early months of 2020. As factories in China started to reopen in mid-2020, there was a large increase in ships heading to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to meet pent-up consumer demand. The ports did not have the capacity to keep pace with this influx of ships, so a backlog of ships started to build up offshore in late 2020. The backlog grew rapidly during the second half of 2021 and peaked in early 2022:
This backlog was not caused by a loss in productivity at the ports. In fact, the ports processed a record number of containers in 2021:
In 2021 and 2022, Secretary Buttigieg and others in the Biden administration took steps to help the ports more quickly work through the backlog, which officially ended in November 2022. Despite panicked headlines in 2021 declaring that Christmas might be ruined by supply chain problems, the 2021 holiday season saw record deliveries, with FedEx, UPS, and the US Postal Service delivering over 95% of packages on time. By 2023, global supply chain pressures had eased:
Though the supply chain pressures caused by COVID have largely subsided, Secretary Buttigieg and the Biden administration aim to strengthen US supply chains to withstand potential future shocks. In March 2022, USDOT published an assessment of US supply chain vulnerabilities and made recommendations for improving the resilience of freight and logistics systems.
In an interview in June 2022, the Secretary described some of USDOT’s short-term and long-term strategies for strengthening supply chains:
Here are more details about the Secretary and USDOT’s work on supply chains:
Efforts to ease congestion at ports in 2021 and 2022
Secretary Buttigieg and the Biden administration took several short-term actions to relieve bottlenecks at US ports in 2021 and 2022:
- In September 2021, USDOT worked with the Port of Long Beach to move to 24/7 operations. In October 2021, the Port of Los Angeles also moved to 24/7 operations in consultation with USDOT.
- In October 2021, USDOT worked with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to propose fining ocean shippers for long-dwelling containers. This fine was never levied, but just the threat of a fine was effective in pressuring shippers to remove these containers and unclog the ports.
- In January 2022, USDOT worked with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help the Port of Oakland set up a new “pop-up” container yard to ease congestion at the port and make it easier to fill empty shipping containers with agricultural products to export.
- In November 2021, USDOT announced that it would provide funding to the Port of Savannah to help set up and operate multiple “pop-up” container yards, which reduced container dwell times and allowed the port to serve more ships more quickly.
Port infrastructure
The IIJA significantly expanded federal funding for port infrastructure. Between FY 2022 and FY 2026, the IIJA’s funding for MARAD’s Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) will be roughly equivalent to the total amount that USDOT had awarded to ports throughout the department’s history prior to the IIJA. Since 2021, Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have awarded about $1.6 billion in PIDP grants:
- In December 2021, the Secretary announced $241 million in PIDP grants for 25 port projects in 19 states and one territory. Among the larger grants, the Port of Long Beach received over $52 million to construct a new support facility for 24 locomotives and extend five tracks to increase efficiency. Grants for smaller ports are also important. In Tell City, Indiana, the Secretary awarded $1.6 million to construct a pier for a crane that will unload pig iron from barges when the river is high. The new pier is expected to increase port productivity by up to 60% and help support 1,000 jobs in a town of 7,000 people.
- In October 2022, PIDP funding nearly tripled thanks to the IIJA and additional appropriations from Congress — the Secretary awarded $703 million for 41 projects in 22 states and one territory. Examples: The Port of Camden in New Jersey received $25 million to reconstruct nearly 3 miles of roadway to improve truck access to the port from I-676. The Port of Green Bay in Wisconsin received over $10 million to help redevelop a former power plant site into a new port terminal.
- In November 2023, the Secretary awarded over $653 million in PIDP grants for 41 projects. About $290 million of these grants went to projects that will help speed up the movement of trucks in and out of coastal and inland ports. For example, the Port of Tacoma in Washington received over $54 million to reconfigure the Husky terminal yard for better truck circulation. This project will also install about 40 refrigerated cargo racks to triple the port’s refrigerated cargo capacity. The Secretary also awarded $15 million to construct a slackwater harbor in Fort Smith, Arkansas. This new harbor will have the capacity to offload 8 barges at a time.
Secretary Buttigieg has also funded port projects through other grant programs. For example, in December 2023, he awarded $283 million to the Port of Long Beach through the Mega Grant Program. This project will more than triple the volume of on-dock rail cargo that the port can process each year. In September 2022, the Secretary awarded $150 million to the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry Project in California through the INFRA Grant Program.
USDOT has also been providing technical assistance to improve the capacity and efficiency of California’s coastal and land ports. In October 2021, USDOT formed an Emerging Projects Agreement with the California State Transportation Agency that covers a wide range of potential supply chain improvement projects.
In January 2024, MARAD and the American Association of Port Authorities would conduct a survey of port authorities and marine terminal operators to identify US port cargo handling needs over the next 5–10 years. This survey will also assess manufacturers’ capability to produce cargo handling equipment and other port equipment.
Bridge repairs and construction
When a bridge is in poor condition, weight restrictions are often put on the bridge, which may force trucks to take long detours. This makes it slower and more expensive to transport goods, making supply chains less efficient. As of November 2023, USDOT had funded repairs to over 7,800 bridges through the IIJA.
Perhaps the most famous example: The IIJA is funding upgrades to the Brent Spence Bridge between Kentucky and Ohio. Under previous administrations, this bridge had become a symbol of America’s crumbling infrastructure. Both Presidents Obama and Trump had publicly advocated for fixing the bridge, but they were unsuccessful in securing funding. The Biden administration is now getting it done. In January 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded $1.385 billion through FHWA’s Bridge Investment Program and $250 million through the Mega Grant Program to construct a new companion bridge to the Brent Spence Bridge and rehabilitate the existing bridge.
For the first time in a decade, the IIJA created dedicated funding specifically for bridge projects, which include two new bridge programs:
- The Bridge Formula Program distributes $5.5 billion annually to the states through FY2026. Local government entities and Tribes can use this funding to cover 100% of the cost to repair an off-system bridge — they are not required to provide a matching share.
- The Bridge Investment Program is authorized to award nearly $16 billion in competitive grants through FY2026 (though $3.265 billion of that amount is subject to future appropriations).
In addition to this dedicated bridge funding, states can use highway formula grants for bridge projects, and Secretary Buttigieg has awarded funding for bridge projects through multiple competitive grant programs. For example, in September 2022, the Secretary awarded an $80 million INFRA grant to replace the existing I-39/90/94 Wisconsin River Bridge with two new bridge spans and also to replace two overcrossing bridges for county roads. In December 2023, the Secretary awarded $600 million through the Mega Grant Program to replace the I-5 bridge across the Columbia River, between Washington and Oregon.
Freight rail
Since 2021, Secretary Buttigieg has awarded about $1.8 billion through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program to improve freight rail capacity, efficiency, and safety. Funding for this program has more than tripled thanks to the IIJA. Some examples of how CRISI grants strengthen supply chains: In September 2023, the Secretary awarded more than $72.8 million to improve rail infrastructure on the Palouse River & Coulee City Railroad in eastern Washington State, which is vital to the wheat supply chain. This project will allow the line to carry modern 286,000-pound railcars and move at higher speeds. In Grand Island, Nebraska, the Secretary awarded $15.2 million to the Cornhusker Railroad to rebuild the 5-mile mainline, build two 2-mile interchange sidings, expand the repair facility, and upgrade various yard and track infrastructure — which will allow safer and more efficient movement and interchange of railcars on the Cornhusker and with its Class I partners, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad.
Secretary Buttigieg has also awarded funding for freight rail projects through other grant programs. For example, in September 2022, he awarded a $17.3 million INFRA grant to rehabilitate the Rockport Railroad Bridge in Kentucky. This rail bridge is over 100 years old and is part of a 280-mile railway that transports chemicals, grain, coal, lumber, steel, and petroleum. If the bridge shut down, these products would need to be shipped by truck.
FLOW data-sharing initiative
As Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT worked to address supply chain challenges in 2021, supply chain stakeholders consistently shared feedback that a lack of data made it difficult to optimize their operations. In response to this feedback, in March 2022, Secretary Buttigieg launched the Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) data-sharing initiative, which is a voluntary collaboration in which stakeholders share anonymized proprietary data and gain more visibility into supply chain networks. In August 2022, FLOW participants began securely sharing data with USDOT for the first time, and the number of participants more than doubled from 17 to 36, including companies like Target, Maersk, FedEx, and UPS. By December 2023, the number of participants had grown to 59 members.
Allison Dane Camden, whose office oversees the FLOW initiative at USDOT, explained its significance:
“We just had the first tranche of data go out to our private sector partners, and they’re starting to be able to put it to use, to add it to their own models to aid their decision-making, and we’re getting positive feedback from them…
We currently have 65% of all [import container] bookings — no one else has that. We have the top five US container ports, all the major chassis providers, seven of the major ocean carriers, four of the largest importers.
This is unprecedented. To me it is so impressive to see the federal government and the private sector partner together in this way. This is proprietary data, but we found a way to make the private sector comfortable sharing it, knowing that it’s going to be for a greater good that’s going to help them and the overall supply chain.”
Allison Dane Camden, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy, USDOT (Interview with FreightWaves, published on December 19, 2023)
The FLOW webpage includes a snapshot that illustrates what the data portal looks like:
The FLOW data portal is accessible to participants who contribute data to the platform on a daily or weekly basis.
Truck driver recruitment, training, and retention
According to estimates from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the trucking industry had a shortage of about 60,000 drivers in 2023. This is an improvement from 2021 when the shortage reached over 81,000 drivers, but more needs to be done to expand the number of drivers. Secretary Buttigieg and FMCSA have been working to improve the recruitment and retention of truck drivers.
One of the Secretary’s top priorities has been to expand access to truck parking, which improves truck drivers’ quality of life and safety, and it saves them time and money — ATA estimates that drivers lose $5,500 in annual compensation from the time wasted looking for parking. Addressing this problem is important for improving the job quality of the truck driving profession, so more people choose to join and stay in the industry. Since 2021, the Secretary has awarded over $285 million to projects that specifically build new truck parking spaces. (These grants are described in more detail in the “Truck Driver Safety” section above.)
The trucking industry has struggled to tap into large talent pools in the workforce. In 2022, only 13.7% of truck drivers were women — which is a significant increase from previous years, but clearly there are barriers to women entering the industry. In November 2022, Secretary Buttigieg convened USDOT’s first-ever Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB), which is mandated by the IIJA to advise FMCSA on how to improve job quality and recruit more women into the truck driving profession. A year later in November 2023, WOTAB reported that it had produced an initial draft of recommendations regarding steps to eradicate sexual harassment and violence, reduce barriers to entry, maximize existing avenues for recruitment, enhance driver training and career development, and improve coordination across companies and non-profits to support women in pursuing trucking careers. Once the WOTAB report is finalized, FMCSA will act on its recommendations and then submit a progress report to Congress by November 2024.
Secretary Buttigieg has also been working to make it more efficient to issue commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). In his speech at the ATA conference in October 2022, the Secretary noted that USDOT’s funding and efforts to remove barriers had helped states add over 543,000 CDLs in 2022, which is 32% more than the same period in 2019, and 14% higher than 2021. FMCSA awards annual CDL Program Implementation (CDLPI) grants to help states implement CDL programs — for example, funding the hiring of state personnel to reduce CDL skills testing delays, improving CDL reporting, maintaining accurate driver records, and training CDL skills test examiners. In September 2023, FMCSA announced that it was awarding more than $44 million in CDLPI grants. And in January 2024, FMCSA proposed a rule to give CDL applicants the ability to take a CDL skills test outside of their state of residence, and the rule would also eliminate the requirement that an applicant wait at least 14 days to take the CDL skills test after being issued a commercial learner’s permit.
Helping veterans enter the trucking industry has personal significance for Secretary Buttigieg based on his experiences serving in the Navy. “Driving was one of my responsibilities during my own time in Afghanistan. I know some of the people I served with would make fantastic professional drivers, and we’ve got to make it easier for more veterans to get into this good career,” he said at the ATA’s October 2022 conference. FMCSA funds training for veterans and their spouses to enter trucking careers through the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) grant program. Secretary Buttigieg and FMCSA awarded over $3 million in CMVOST grants each year in 2022 and 2023. Though this program is not new, USDOT changed the rules in FY2022 so applicants no longer need to pay a matching share to participate.
USDOT also partners with Task Force Movement, which is a public-private partnership that helps military veteran community members find trucking jobs, including Afghan refugees who helped US troops.
To help build the pipeline of talent in the trucking industry, the IIJA established a Safe Driver Apprenticeship Program (SDAP), which is a pilot program that allows young drivers (ages 18 to 20) to operate across state lines while training as apprentices — which they otherwise cannot do under FMCSA’s current safety regulations. In July 2022, FMCSA launched the program and started allowing motor carriers to register. As of November 2023, at least 33 trucking companies had been accepted into the program.
Several members of Congress and trucking stakeholders have expressed concerns about low participation in the SDAP pilot, and some have criticized the program’s requirement that companies register their apprenticeship program with the US Department of Labor and that apprentices must use trucks with driver-facing cameras. In a March 2023 Senate hearing, Secretary Buttigieg responded to these concerns: “Any requirement that is in the program is for the purpose of safety. Safety will always be our first priority. But we are very interested in getting the level of participation that’ll get us good data to see if we can continue in this direction without compromising safety.” In a December 2023 House hearing, FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson noted that FMCSA has found that most trucking companies were not aware of the program, which is the primary reason for low participation. Starting in early 2024, FMCSA will expand its campaign to publicize SDAP through social media, paid media, direct mail, events, and outreach to vocational high schools.
FMCSA is sponsoring a driver compensation study conducted by the Transportation Research Board, as required by the IIJA. This project will study the impacts of various driver compensation methods on overall safety and retention rates on drivers for long-haul trucking and intercity bus operations. The study is set to be completed by July 2024 and will look at how different methods of compensation (eg, pay by the hour, pay by the mile, pay for detention time) impact driver retention and safety performance. The study’s findings will help inform initiatives and policies to improve retention in the trucking industry.
The IIJA also included a provision for FMCSA to study driver detention time — the extra time a driver waits to load or unload cargo at a facility. According to previous FMCSA research, detention time costs drivers $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in lost wages per year. The study is planned to be released in July 2025 and will help inform ways to reduce detention time, which would improve truck drivers’ job quality.
Highways
The IIJA increased funding for the Federal-aid Highway Program, which provides grants to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico based on formulas set by Congress for highways and bridges on eligible Federal-aid routes. In October 2023, FHWA allocated $61 billion through the program for FY 2024 — which is $17.6 billion higher than in FY 2021 before the IIJA was enacted. So far, the IIJA has funded improvements to 135,000 miles of roads.
Marine Highways
The US Marine Highway Program is designed to increase the use of America’s navigable waterways, especially where water-based transport is the most efficient, effective, and sustainable option. Under this program, routes are designated as part of the US marine highway system, and projects to facilitate water-based transport are identified along those routes. These projects are eligible for MARAD’s marine highway grants.
Since 2021, Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have designated 4 new routes, so there are now 31 US Marine Highway Route Designations:
- The Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Route Designation (M-GNM1) will expand freight service between Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ (CNMI) main islands of Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. This additional capacity is important, because nearly all goods needed by local residents are transported through the islands’ seaports.
- The M-3 Kaskaskia River Route Designation in Illinois will expand the route’s capacity to transport coiled steel and other goods.
- The M-79 Marine Highway Route Designation between Pennsylvania and West Virginia extends the reach of the Ohio River system by nearly 250 miles, adding the easternmost tributary rivers.
- The M-11 Marine Highway Route Designation in Alaska adds over 6,500 miles to the marine highway system with the inclusion of the coastal and river ports in southwestern and northern Alaska from the Aleutian Islands to the Canadian border.
Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have designated 12 new Marine Highway Projects, so there are now 58 projects:
- In August 2021, six new Marine Highway Projects were designated. Example: The Missouri River Container on Barge Project in Missouri will expand ways to transport agricultural commodities and other goods in containers from inland waterways in Central Missouri to ocean ports, bringing these goods to international markets more competitively.
- In April 2022, two new Marine Highway Projects and one Project Designation Extension were designated. Example: The Lake Michigan M-90 Marine Highway Shortcut will support an existing ferry service that transports freight vehicles and passengers across Lake Michigan, allowing vehicles to avoid driving through the busy southern route near Chicago.
- In June 2022, four new Marine Highway Projects were designated. Example: The Puerto Rico Maritime Transportation Services Project will establish reliable routes among Ceiba, Culebra, and Vieques, improving island residents’ access to the essential services and goods.
Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have awarded about $63 million in grants to Marine Highway Projects:
- In December 2021, $12.6 million was awarded to 9 marine highway projects. Example: The Chambers County-Houston Container on Barge Expansion Service in Texas received $3 million to purchase two purpose-built barges, allowing the project sponsor to transport up to 56,000 containers per year.
- In October 2022, MARAD awarded nearly $39 million in grants to 12 marine highway projects. This round of grants was larger than usual thanks to an additional $25 million from the IIJA and $14.8 million in appropriations. Among these grants, the New York Harbor Container & Trailer-on-Barge Service received over $5.1 million to upgrade 6 of the harbor’s landings to accommodate freight by water.
- In September 2023, nearly $12 million was awarded to 8 marine highway projects. Example: The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District in Louisiana was awarded over $3.3 million to procure modern and efficient cargo transloading equipment, including a 220-ton crane and a 25-ton forklift.
Shipyards
MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program is designed to support small shipyard projects that make capital and related improvements; or provide training for workers in shipbuilding, ship repair, and associated industries. Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have awarded about $60 million to small shipyards over the past three years (2021, 2022, and 2023).
MARAD also administers a Federal Ship Financing Program (commonly known as “Title XI”) which guarantees loans to promote the growth and modernization of the US merchant marine and US shipyards. For example, in September 2022, Canal Barge Company, Inc., headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana received a loan guarantee of over $51.4 million over 25 years for three new towboats and 17 new barges.
Airport cargo
In October 2022, Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA awarded $31 million through the Airport Improvement Program to expand cargo infrastructure at 9 airports. For example, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska received over $8.1 million to reconstruct the taxilane and rehabilitate the airport apron. This airport is America’s second-largest airport hub for transporting cargo as measured by cargo weight.
Multimodal Freight Office
In November 2023, Secretary Buttigieg launched the Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure Policy (Multimodal Freight Office), which is required by the IIJA to oversee the development of the National Multimodal Freight Network and review State Freight Plans. These plans will be used to prioritize investment in freight infrastructure. The Multimodal Freight Office also oversees the FLOW data portal (discussed in more detail above).
Commercial space transportation
Commercial space transportation, largely to launch satellites, is a relatively new and quickly-growing part of US supply chains. In 2023, there were a record 124 FAA-licensed commercial space operations, including 117 launches and 7 re-entries — which is three times more than in 2020. The FAA has increased staffing and improved the efficiency of its procedures to manage the quickly-growing demand for licenses for commercial space operations.
13. Transportation options: Oversaw the largest federal investment in public transit in US history, awarded $4 billion to support transit buses, awarded $6.1 billion to build America’s first high-speed rail systems, began planning over 40 new passenger rail corridors, issued new guidance to finance and promote affordable housing near public transit, prioritized RAISE grants for pedestrian and bike projects, invested $2 billion in airport terminals, activated 169 new flight routes, reduced flight disruptions from commercial space launches, and allocated $604 million to improve ferry service.
Here are actions that Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT have taken to help Americans have more transportation options, more convenient options, more affordable options, and higher-quality options:
Transit and transit-oriented development
Shortly after taking office, the Biden administration provided urgent funding to keep America’s public transportation systems operating during the COVID pandemic — in March 2021, the President and Secretary Buttigieg worked with Congress to enact the American Rescue Plan, which provided $30.5 billion through FTA to support public transit agencies across the country.
And then in November 2021, the IIJA became the largest federal investment in public transportation in US history, authorizing up to $108 billion for transit projects over five years. This is a 79% increase in federal transit funding compared with the prior transportation authorization in the FAST Act of 2015:
Most of this transit funding is allocated via formulas set by Congress. The IIJA also created several brand new competitive grant programs for transit funding, including:
- Rail Vehicle Replacement Program: In May 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA awarded about $703 million for 6 projects to replace aging passenger railcars. Example: The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) received $200 million to buy up to 300 new electric propulsion passenger railcars to replace railcars that have been operating since the 1980s. This is a much-needed investment to improve CTA’s state of good repair status, since the average age of CTA’s railcars is nearly 40 years old. In October 2023, FTA began accepting grant applications for the next round of $197 million through this program.
- All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP): In December 2022, the Secretary and FTA awarded $686 million to retrofit transit stations that were built prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Example: The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority received $254 million to make its Myrtle Avenue, Norwood Avenue and Avenue I subway stations in Brooklyn and the Burnside Avenue subway station in the Bronx fully accessible to people with disabilities. In December 2023, FTA began accepting grant applications for the next round of $343 million in ASAP funds.
In terms of other discretionary programs, the IIJA authorized up to $4.6 billion per year (subject to Congressional appropriations) to the Capital Investment Program, which funds light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit projects. Under this program, FTA rates projects based on criteria defined in the IIJA and submits an Annual Report to Congress that recommends which projects to fund and how much funding to provide. In March 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA recommended 18 transit projects for FY 2024, which include: Bus rapid transit projects in California, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah; Utah’s FrontRunner Strategic Double Track project; Chicago’s Red Line Extension to the city’s far south side; the BART Silicon Valley Phase II Project; the Hudson Tunnel Project; the Second Avenue Subway Phase II Project; the Los Angeles Westside Subway Section 2 and Section 3 rail projects; the Minneapolis Southwest Light Rail Transit project; and the Seattle Lynwood Link Light Rail extension project.
One example of a project funded by the Capital Investment Program is the Second Avenue Subway Phase II Project in New York City. In November 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced a $3.4 billion Full Funding Grant Agreement to support the 1.8-mile extension of the Q line to 125th Street in East Harlem, relieving overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue Line, which transports 200,000 riders per day.
Since 2021, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA have competitively awarded about $4 billion to support transit buses through the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program and the Low or No-Emission Bus Program. The IIJA more than doubled the annual funding for these two programs combined. As an example, in 2023, the WMATA transit system received $104 million to convert its Lorton, Virginia bus garage to a fully electric facility, buy approximately 100 battery-electric buses, and develop a workforce training program for drivers, mechanics, and first responders to operate and maintain the fleet.
Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT have also promoted transit-oriented development, so more people can live and work in areas near public transportation services. This is important as communities grapple with changing commuter patterns in the wake of the COVID pandemic. At the end of 2023, Moody’s Analytics estimated that 19.6% of office space in major US cities were vacant, an increase from 18.8% a year earlier. These vacancies have hurt transit ridership and taken a toll on transit agencies’ financial health. At the same time, America faces a housing shortage, especially in major cities. So in many cases, converting vacant office buildings into housing could help alleviate multiple problems by making housing more affordable, allowing more people to live near public transit so they don’t need to depend on a car, and increasing transit ridership.
In October 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced a new initiative to help state and local governments finance commercial-to-residential building conversions and transit-oriented building. USDOT issued guidance to help state and local governments use the TIFIA and RRIF credit programs, which have $35 billion in financing authority, to build housing conversions using below-market financing. USDOT will offer technical assistance to help communities navigate these financing options. FTA also issued Interim Guidance to make it easier for transit agencies to transfer properties to promote transit-oriented development. For instance, if a transit agency owns a storage facility that it does not need anymore, FTA’s new guidance will make it easier for communities to redevelop those properties into affordable housing.
FTA administers a Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning. Through this program, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA awarded $11 million in 2021 and $13.1 million in 2022. For example, in 2022, the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority in Alabama received $1.6 million to plan transit-oriented development to promote affordable housing at the eastern end of the new Birmingham Xpress bus rapid transit line. In August 2023, FTA began accepting applications for the next round of $13.4 million — in this round, applications with a substantial focus on affordable housing may receive up to 100% federal cost share support.
In October 2022, the Secretary announced that USDOT will allow the TIFIA program to finance a higher share of costs for transit and transit-oriented development projects. Previously, borrowers could use TIFIA loans to finance up to 33% of eligible project costs — the Secretary has raised this threshold to 49%, which is the maximum allowed by law.
Passenger rail and high-speed rail
The IIJA authorizes $66 billion for passenger rail over five years, which is the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak 50 years ago. Under the IIJA, FRA has three key programs for improving and expanding passenger rail service across the country:
- The Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (Federal-State Partnership Program) funds capital projects that repair, improve, expand, or establish new intercity passenger rail service.
- The Corridor Identification and Development Program (Corridor ID Program) identifies new corridors where intercity passenger rail can be expanded and helps communities plan and develop these passenger rail projects so they are ready for implementation.
- The Amtrak Annual Grant Program provides direct funding to Amtrak.
For Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, Secretary Buttigieg and FRA awarded $16.4 billion for 25 passenger rail projects through the Federal-State Partnership program in November 2023.
One of the largest projects in the Northeast Corridor is the Gateway Hudson River Tunnel Project, which will construct a two-track rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York Penn Station. This project will also rehabilitate the existing North River Tunnel, which was constructed in 1910 and damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The existing tunnel carries 200,000 passenger trips per day and is the only passenger rail connection between Manhattan and New Jersey — so if it went out of service, it would have devastating impacts on Amtrak’s entire Northeast Corridor, which contributes $50 billion in economic activity to the US each year. Given its national economic significance, the Biden administration has invested heavily in the project — Secretary Buttigieg awarded $3.8 billion from FRA’s Federal-State Partnership Program in November 2023, $6.88 billion from FTA’s Capital Investment Program in July 2023, $292 million from the Mega Grant Program in January 2023, and $25 million from the RAISE program. In total, over $11 billion in federal funding has been committed to the Hudson Tunnel Project. Secretary Buttigieg and FRA Administrator Amit Bose celebrated the project’s ground-breaking in New York City in November 2023.
Outside of the Northeast Corridor, Secretary Buttigieg and FRA have awarded funding for the first high-speed rail projects that will be completed on US soil, as well as conventional passenger rail projects that will bring new or improved service to more parts of the country. In December 2023, $8.2 billion was awarded through the Federal-State Partnership Program to fund 10 major passenger rail projects, which include: A new high-speed rail line between California and Nevada; construction of the California High Speed Rail line through the Central Valley; upgrades to rail corridors in Virginia, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia; and expanded capacity at Chicago Union Station.
The Brightline West project is expected to be the first true high-speed rail line completed in the United States. The company aims to have the rail service operational in time for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The all-electric trains are designed to travel up to 200 miles per hour along a 218-mile route between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California — the trip is expected to take 2 hours and 10 minutes, which is twice as fast as the typical drive time. In Cucamonga, riders can take the Metrolink rail system into downtown Los Angeles. In June 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded a $25 million RAISE grant to build two Brightline West stations in Hesperia and Apple Valley, California. In July 2023, the environmental review was completed for the 49-mile stretch between Hesperia and Rancho Cucamonga, with FRA finding no significant environmental impacts. In December 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FRA awarded $3 billion from the Federal-State Partnership Program to construct the Brightline West project. In January 2024, the Secretary announced that USDOT had approved $2.5 billion in private activity bond authority for the project.
In total, Secretary Buttigieg and FRA awarded $6.1 billion for high-speed rail projects through the Federal-State Partnership Program.
The Corridor ID Program will help plan and develop a pipeline of shovel-worthy passenger rail projects so that they will eventually become shovel-ready. In December 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FRA announced the first set of corridors selected for the program, and each corridor was awarded a planning grant of up to $500,000. These selections include:
- 7 new high-speed rail corridors (Example: Texas High-Speed Rail between Dallas and Houston)
- 34 new conventional rail corridors (Example: Atlanta-Chattanooga-Nashville-Memphis Corridor)
- 13 existing routes with extensions (Example: Hiawatha Service Extension from Milwaukee to Green Bay, Wisconsin)
- 15 existing routes (Example: Pittsburgh to Philadelphia improvements)
The IIJA authorized up to $22 billion (of which $19.22 billion is fully authorized) for the Amtrak Annual Grant Program over five years. In November 2022, FRA granted Amtrak the first round of $4.3 billion to modernize the rail network, improve accessibility at stations, and replace railcars and locomotives. With this funding and funding through other IIJA grant programs, Amtrak is planning a major expansion and modernization of its network by 2035, adding new service to 160 communities and increasing nationwide ridership by 120%. “The bipartisan infrastructure bill allows us to really bring all of these old 20th or 19th century assets into the 21st century,” Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said. In 2021, Amtrak released this map of its 2035 vision for corridor expansion:
FRA’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grants can also be used to expand access to passenger rail. For example, in September 2023, a $178.4 million CRISI grant was awarded to Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement Project in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, which will restore passenger rail service to the region for the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Active transportation and micromobility
“You shouldn’t have to take two tons of metal along with you everywhere you go,” Secretary Buttigieg often says. The Secretary and USDOT have sought to provide more safe and convenient options for Americans to walk or bike (i.e., active transportation) or use scooters, wheelchairs, or other forms of micromobility.
The IIJA created the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program, which helps communities plan Complete Streets and safer street designs for pedestrians and cyclists. In 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded a total of $1.7 billion in SS4A grants and $21 million from the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF). (These programs and other safety measures are described in more detail in the “Roadway Safety” section above.)
Secretary Buttigieg has also awarded a large share of RAISE grants to projects that make substantial investments in walking and biking infrastructure. A researcher at the Urban Institute compared the RAISE grants that Secretary Buttigieg awarded in 2021 and 2022 versus the BUILD grants that Secretary Elaine Chao awarded in 2020. This analysis found that, compared to Secretary Chao, Secretary Buttigieg has been awarding a much lower percentage of grants to road expansion projects and a much higher percentage of grants to projects that improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure:
Since 2021, Secretary Buttigieg has awarded 418 RAISE grants totaling over $5.4 billion across 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands. To give some examples of projects that improve pedestrian and biking infrastructure:
- The City of Russellville, Arkansas received over $23.7 million to build about 13 miles of new active transportation infrastructure, consisting of 10-foot multi-use trails and 10-foot side paths.
- The City of Phoenix, Arizona received over $10.2 million to add about 3.3 miles of accessible sidewalks and improve the roadway between downtown Phoenix and the airport with enhanced pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
- The City of Anaheim, California received a $5 million planning grant to develop the final design and construction documents for 5 active transportation connections to the regional rail/bus transit center. The project includes 2 multi-modal bridges, an elevated “highline” trail, a major regional trail extension, and the realignment of an engineered riverbank to separate high-speed bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
- The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority received a $20 million grant to construct a new bicycle-pedestrian bridge across the Potomac River between Arlington and Washington, DC.
Under Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, USDOT has also been providing more guidance and education to state and local governments about how to “flex” funding from highway programs to fund pedestrian and biking infrastructure that connects to transit stations. This ability to transfer funds has existed for a long time, but many state and local governments were not aware of this.
Air travel
Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA have been working to create a higher-quality passenger experience for air travelers — investing in more accessible airport terminals that can accommodate more passengers and offer more amenities, and making operational changes to prevent disruptions within the National Airspace System.
Historically, it has been unusual for the federal government to provide grants specifically for airport terminals — prior to the IIJA, the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) awarded a total of $1.1 billion for airport terminal projects, but this funding did not continue beyond ARRA.
The IIJA includes an unprecedented amount of federal funding — $5 billion over five years — to improve airport terminals so that passengers have a more convenient travel experience. So far, Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA have awarded $2 billion from the IIJA’s new Airport Terminal Grant program for 190 projects to improve security checkpoints, upgrade baggage systems, widen concourses, add gates, and more. Another $3 billion will be awarded in future grant rounds. Some examples of projects funded by this program:
- Orlando International Airport in Florida received $50 million to expand South Terminal C, which includes the addition of 4 gates with 8 loading bridges to the terminal facility. Secretary Buttigieg visited this airport in October 2022.
- Pittsburgh International Airport in Pennsylvania received $20 million to add a new 700,000 square-foot terminal next to the existing one. This will improve the passenger security screening checkpoint, the checked baggage inspection system, the baggage handling equipment, the US Customs and Border Protection area, and other aspects of the airport. Secretary Buttigieg visited this airport in July 2023.
- Chamberlain Municipal Airport in South Dakota received $855,000 to build a permanent ADA-compliant facility to replace an existing mobile home that is currently being used as a general aviation terminal. The rural community of Chamberlain depends on this airport for medevac operations. Secretary Buttigieg visited this airport in September 2023.
Since 2021, the FAA has made available nearly $9 billion from the IIJA’s new Airport Infrastructure Grant (AIG) program for airport runways, taxiways, safety projects, sustainability upgrades, airport-transit connections, and other improvements. Another $6 billion will be made available in future funding rounds. Almost all of AIG funds are allocated to airports via a formula. The AIG program also includes $20 million per year in competitive grants to modernize air traffic control towers.
In October 2023, the FAA awarded $57.6 million to help 47 airports purchase snowplows and de-icing equipment, so these airports can operate safely and more smoothly in winter conditions.
In addition to investments in airport infrastructure and equipment, the FAA has also made operational changes to prevent potential disruptions and improve the fluidity of air traffic within the National Airspace System. These changes are partly why the flight cancellation rate in 2023 was the lowest in a decade.
In March 2023, the FAA announced a slot waiver at airports in the New York City and Washington, DC metropolitan areas to encourage airlines to fly up to 10% fewer flights from those airports. These particular airports have had more severe air traffic controller shortages, which could cause flight delays — and these shortages cannot quickly be fixed, because it requires years of training to become a fully qualified air traffic controller at these large, complex airports. So as a temporary measure to prevent flight disruptions, the FAA’s slot waiver has helped to reduce the volume of traffic at these airports to a manageable level. Airlines reduced the number of flights, but they used larger aircraft, so the number of travelers at these airports actually increased in 2023. Thanks to measures like the slot waiver, only 2.4% of flight delay minutes in 2023 were caused by air traffic control staffing shortages:
In April 2023, the FAA issued new guidance for handling commercial space launches, so that these launches cause less disruption to airline flights. This new guidance has prevented delays by changing the FAA’s protocols for closing airspace and scheduling launches to avoid holiday travel and other busy periods. There were a record 117 FAA-licensed commercial space launches during 2023, so these launches happen frequently enough to significantly impact airlines’ on-time performance, particularly in Florida.
In May 2023, the FAA activated 169 new routes along the east coast that are more direct, saving passengers time:
To prevent congestion and delays during the Thanksgiving travel rush in 2023, the FAA coordinated with the military to allow commercial flights to use restricted airspace off the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
Ferries
Since 2021, USDOT has allocated over $604 million in IIJA funding to expand and improve ferry service across the country. And over the next three years, another $825 million will be allocated. Under the IIJA, four programs are dedicated to supporting ferry systems:
- FTA’s Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program provides competitive funding to states for ferry service in rural areas.
- FTA’s Passenger Ferry Grant Program supports capital projects to establish new ferry service and repair and modernize ferry vessels, terminals, and facilities in urban areas.
- FTA’s Electric or Low-Emitting Ferry Pilot Program funds the purchase of electric or low-emitting ferries and electrifies or reduces emissions from existing ferries.
- FHWA’s Construction of Ferry Boats and Ferry Terminal Facilities Formula Program allocates federal-aid highway funds to state transportation agencies for designing and constructing ferry boats and terminal facilities and for acquiring right-of-way for ferry systems.
Ferry service is vital in the state of Alaska, where many communities can only be reached by ferry or plane. In November 2023, Alaska received over $131 million to invest in the Alaska Marine Highway that serves remote locations, including nearly $92.8 million to build a new ferry to replace a nearly 60-year-old vessel and provide more reliable service to rural southwest Alaska.
14. Consumer protection: Worked to achieve the lowest flight cancellation rate in a decade in 2023; levied a $140 million penalty on Southwest Airlines, which is 30 times larger than any previous USDOT consumer protection penalty; launched the Airline Customer Service Dashboard (FlightRights.gov), which massively expanded travelers’ rights; proposed new rules for airline refunds and disclosing hidden fees; pushed airlines to refund over $2.5 billion to customers; began developing rules to compensate passengers for controllable flight disruptions and ban fees for parents to sit next to their children; and cracked down on moving scams with Operation Protect Your Move.
USDOT is largely a safety regulator, while other federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission regulate consumer protection. But there are a few areas where USDOT has legal authority to protect transportation customers. In particular, USDOT is responsible for consumer protection in the aviation industry, and it has some power to protect consumers in the motor carrier industry (trucking, bus companies, moving companies, etc.).
In the aviation industry: Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT have vastly expanded US air travelers’ rights over the past three years and have levied the largest penalties in US history on airlines that have committed violations. USDOT’s Office of the General Counsel has a small but mighty team that handles all of the department’s aviation consumer protection work. In a February 2023 interview, Secretary Buttigieg said that USDOT only has 15 lawyers and 15 analysts to work on rulemaking, respond to consumer complaints, conduct investigations, and take enforcement action against violations. Partly thanks to this team’s efforts, airlines had a strong incentive to increase their hiring, make more realistic flight schedules, and improve their operations. This helped to push the flight cancellation rate down in 1.2% in 2023 — which is the lowest rate in a decade:
In the motor carrier industry: FMCSA’s regulations protect consumers who are moving to a different state. Over the past three years, Secretary Buttigieg and FMCSA have redoubled efforts to crack down on moving scams.
Rulemaking for aviation consumer protection
In 2020, during the last two months of the Trump Administration, Secretary Elaine Chao finalized a rule that was designed to slow down USDOT’s process for regulating airline consumer protection. Under this Trump administration rule, if an airline had a “plausible” objection to a proposed regulation, it could file a petition and force USDOT to hold a formal hearing, creating new delays in a public comment process that is already lengthy.
After Secretary Buttigieg was sworn in, his office quickly worked to propose a rule to remove the barriers created by Secretary Chao’s policy. This rule was finalized in January 2022 and laid the groundwork to speed up USDOT’s work on airline consumer protection.
During Secretary Buttigieg’s three years in office, USDOT has issued proposed rules to:
- Require airlines to provide cash refunds if a passenger’s flight is significantly changed and they choose not to fly, even if the ticket is non-refundable. A “significant change” includes early departures, flights delayed by 3 hours (domestic) or 6 hours (international), changes to the arrival or departure airport, additional connections, downgrades to a lower class of service, or a change in aircraft that results in a downgrade in available amenities.
- Require airlines to provide non-expiring travel credits or vouchers when a passenger cannot travel due to a serious communicable disease — for example, if you get sick, if there’s a stay-at-home order, or if there are border closures or restrictions. And if the airline receives significant government financial assistance, it must provide cash refunds — not just travel credits or vouchers.
- Require airlines to refund any fees for services that are ultimately not provided. For example, if a passenger pays a fee for Wi-Fi service and it does not work, the airline is required to refund the fee.
- Require airlines to refund checked baggage fees if bags are lost or significantly delayed (12 hours for domestic flights and 25 hours for international flights).
- Require airlines and ticket agents to disclose all fee information before a customer purchases a ticket. This includes baggage fees, change fees, cancellation fees, and adjacent seating fees for families traveling with young children.
Scott Keyes, founder of Going (previously Scott’s Cheap Flights), described the historic nature of these proposed rules: “If enacted, this would be the biggest expansion of travelers’ rights in decades.”
The Secretary has also called for airlines to seat parents with their children at no additional cost. In July 2022, USDOT issued a notice to airlines urging them to ensure that children ages 13 or younger be seated next to an accompanying adult with no fee. And then in February 2023, USDOT announced that it will propose new regulations to bar airlines from charging fees for seating children next to family members. Until the proposed rule is finalized, USDOT has publicly disclosed which airlines offer fee-free family seating for children and an accompanying adult. The Secretary has also asked Congress to pass legislation to ban these fees.
In May 2023, Secretary Buttigieg joined President Biden at an event to announce that USDOT would develop a proposed rule to require airlines to compensate passengers and cover certain amenities (eg, meals, hotels, etc.) when a flight delay or cancellation is caused by something within the airline’s control, such as staffing or mechanical issues.
Airline Customer Service Dashboard (FlightRights.gov)
The rulemaking process can take years, so Secretary Buttigieg has also pursued other innovative ways to expand consumer protection more quickly. In September 2022, the Secretary launched USDOT’s Airline Customer Service Dashboard (FlightRights.gov), which is an online tool where travelers can easily compare airlines’ customer service plans. For example, the Dashboard compares which airlines pay for hotels if passengers get stranded overnight due to a delay or cancellation that was under the airline’s control. In the process of creating the Dashboard, USDOT went through the customer service plans of the 10 largest US airlines and followed up with each airline to clarify any ambiguous language that might let the airline wiggle out of liability. Even though these plans are not federal regulations, USDOT considers it an “unfair or deceptive practice” and can levy fines if airlines violate their own written policies.
This simple act of transparency pressured airlines to greatly expand their commitments to customers:
“What we found was that in addition to developing new rules, which are very powerful but can take a while to work, we can also get results from the airlines using tools like transparency. We came up with the idea of the consumer passenger rights dashboard, and in the space of about two weeks before putting it up, we saw the airlines totally change their customer service policies. That’s what led to a major expansion in passengers rights on things like rebooking, ground transportation, meals, and hotels that an airline really should take care of if you get stuck.”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Interview with Thrillist (Published January 5, 2024)
When Secretary Buttigieg first wrote to airline executives about USDOT’s plans for the Dashboard in August 2022, none of the 10 largest US airlines guaranteed meals, hotels, or ground transportation to and from the hotel, and only one guaranteed free rebooking when the airline was at fault for a delay or cancellation. Now, all 10 airlines guarantee free rebooking and meals, and 9 guarantee hotel accommodations when an airline issue causes a delay or cancellation.
In 2023, USDOT expanded the Dashboard to show which airlines offer cash compensation, credits/travel vouchers, and frequent flyer miles for controllable delays and cancellations. A new section was added to show which airlines offer fee-free family seating.
Here is the original “Commitments for Controllable Delays” Dashboard released on September 1, 2022:
And here is the updated Dashboard as of January 10, 2024:
As of January 2024, four airlines have agreed to provide fee-free family seating for children ages 13 and under to sit next to an accompanying adult:
Three months after it was released, the Dashboard had important implications for over 2 million passengers who were left stranded by Southwest Airlines’ operational meltdown around the Christmas holiday in 2022 and in early 2023. Secretary Buttigieg warned the CEO of Southwest that USDOT would hold the airline accountable if it failed to cover hotels, meals, and ground transportation for affected customers as promised in the Dashboard:
“Southwest has committed to providing meals when a controllable cancellation or delay results in passengers waiting for 3 hours or more for a new flight. This includes all passengers traveling between December 24th and January 2nd who experienced a cancellation or significant delay. In addition, Southwest has promised to provide hotel accommodations and ground transportation to and from hotels for any passenger affected by a controllable overnight delay or cancellation. The Department will take action to hold Southwest accountable if it fails to fulfill commitments that the airline has made in its customer service plans for controllable delays and cancellations.”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s letter to Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan (December 29, 2022)
If the Southwest Airlines meltdown had happened before USDOT launched the Airline Customer Service Dashboard, the airline would not have been liable to cover nearly as many expenses. But thanks to the Dashboard, USDOT had legal authority to push Southwest to provide $600 million in refunds and reimbursements to customers who were impacted.
USDOT also took further enforcement action when Southwest failed to fully meet their commitments to customers…
Enforcement of aviation consumer protection laws
In December 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced that USDOT was levying a $140 million civil penalty against Southwest Airlines for violating consumer protection laws during and after the airline’s operational failures in late 2022 and early 2023. This penalty is 30 times larger than any previous USDOT penalty for consumer protection violations. USDOT’s investigation found that Southwest failed to provide adequate customer service assistance during the meltdown, failed to notify customers when their flight status changed, and failed to provide refunds in a prompt and proper manner.
“Today’s action sets a new precedent and sends a clear message: if airlines fail their passengers, we will use the full extent of our authority to hold them accountable. Taking care of passengers is not just the right thing to do — it’s required, and this penalty should put all airlines on notice to take every step possible to ensure that a meltdown like this never happens again.”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, “DOT Penalizes Southwest Airlines $140 Million for 2022 Holiday Meltdown” (December 18, 2023)
USDOT structured the $140 million penalty in a unique way that encourages the airline industry to raise its standards for customer service:
- Southwest must establish a $90 million fund, and using this fund, the airline will be required to provide $75 vouchers to any future customers who experience a controllable delay or cancellation. $72 million of the $140 million penalty will go toward creating this fund.
- $35 million of the penalty will go to the US Treasury.
- USDOT credited $33 million against the penalty as an acknowledgement that Southwest issued 25,000 Rapid Rewards points to customers who were impacted by the airline’s operational failures. By issuing this credit, USDOT is encouraging more airlines to provide customers with this type of compensation in the event of controllable delays or cancellations.
Secretary Buttigieg said that he hopes this penalty changes the incentive structures in the entire airline industry. Now that Southwest will be required to provide $75 vouchers, other airlines may feel pressure to compete and offer similar vouchers or other compensation when their customers experience controllable disruptions.
While the Southwest penalty is the largest and most historically significant example of USDOT’s enforcement of aviation consumer protections, it is not the only important enforcement action that USDOT has taken over the past three years. Here are more examples:
Tarmac delays: USDOT has regulatory limits on how long airlines can keep passengers waiting on the tarmac. In September 2021, United Airlines was fined $1.9 million for violations that occurred between December 2015 and February 2021 on 20 domestic flights and 5 international flights. In April 2023, British Airways was fined $135,000 for a violation on December 7, 2017. In August 2023, USDOT levied the largest penalty ever for a tarmac delay violation, fining American Airlines $4.1 million for violations that occurred on 43 domestic flights between 2018 and 2021.
Refunds: If a flight is canceled for any reason (including bad weather), airlines are required to offer a full cash refund for the price of the ticket, and refunds must be provided promptly. In November 2021, USDOT reached a $4.5 million settlement with Air Canada for delaying refunds to customers. In November 2022, six airlines were fined $7.25 million for extreme delays in providing refunds. In June 2023, British Airways was fined $1.1 million for failing to provide prompt refunds when the COVID pandemic led to flight cancellations in 2020. Over the past three years, USDOT has helped return a record amount of over $2.5 billion in refunds to travelers.
Unrealistic scheduling: In USDOT’s history, it appears to be rare (or even unprecedented) for airlines to be penalized for setting unrealistic schedules. But under Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, USDOT has been looking carefully at this issue. In January 2023, the New York Times reported that USDOT was investigating whether three US airlines sold tickets that they could not realistically serve, and USDOT announced that it was investigating whether Southwest Airlines made unrealistic schedules. In January 2024, Secretary Buttigieg said that these investigations are ongoing.
Cracking down on moving scams
In April 2023, FMCSA launched Operation Project Your Move — a nationwide crackdown on moving scams and moving companies and brokers that do not follow consumer protection rules when transporting household goods. Under this initiative, FMCSA formally documented violations and used its authority to review and revoke the licenses of movers and brokers. For cases that involved potential criminal misconduct, FMCSA referred these incidents to the US Department of Justice for further investigation. FMCSA also worked directly with consumers to guide them through the process and help get their money and goods back.
In July 2023, FMCSA published an update on this initiative, reporting that it had conducted more than 100 investigations across 16 states. These investigations resulted in over 60 enforcement actions that may lead to the revocation of licenses for movers or brokers.
In August 2023, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida sentenced a defendant who pleaded guilty to conducting a moving fraud scheme, which involved “…inflating the costs of victims’ moves, taking possession of their goods, and abandoning the property throughout the country at undisclosed self-storage facilities, often resulting in total loss of the victims’ property.” USDOT’s OIG conducted this investigation with the Police Department in Sunny Isles, Florida and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from FMCSA.
During a House hearing in December 2023, FMCSA Administrator Robin Hutcheson reported that, since launching Operation Project Your Move, FMCSA had closed 700 complaints and had seen a 36% reduction in the number of consumer complaints.
15. Market competition and fairness: In the airline industry, supported DOJ’s lawsuit against the JetBlue-Spirit merger and, for the first time in USDOT history, used USDOT’s authority to investigate whether the merger would hurt the public’s interest. In the trucking industry, helped to prevent broker fraud by requiring brokers to maintain $75,000 in financial security.
Opposition to the JetBlue-Spirit merger
For many years, airlines in the United States have proceeded with acquisitions and mergers with little legal opposition. Since 2000, there have been 8 major airline mergers and few new entrants in the market, causing the total number of scheduled airlines to shrink over time and leaving US air travelers with fewer and fewer options.
In the past, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has challenged several airline mergers, but these cases were settled out of court — like the 2013 settlement that allowed the merger between American Airlines and US Airways, creating the largest air carrier in the world.
Under President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary Buttigieg have taken a much tougher stance on protecting market competition in the airline industry.
On March 7, 2023, DOJ filed a lawsuit under the Clayton Act to block JetBlue Airways from acquiring Spirit Airlines. DOJ’s investigation found that JetBlue’s own internal analysis projected a 30% increase in its fares once Spirit was no longer a competitor on roughly 100 routes nationwide. DOJ estimated that the net economic harm to passengers would be about $1 billion per year.
On the same day, Secretary Buttigieg expressed USDOT’s full support for the DOJ lawsuit — and most significantly, he took the unprecedented step of announcing a USDOT investigation into whether the JetBlue-Spirit merger would be in the public interest.
In order to merge, JetBlue and Spirit must get USDOT’s approval to transfer their international routes under one certificate — the authorization required to provide air transportation. By law, USDOT can deny this certificate transfer if the merger would not be in the public’s interest, such as negative impacts on safety, prices, market competition, regional airport service, or other factors. Some legal scholars argue that USDOT’s public interest standard is more powerful that DOJ’s authority under the Clayton Act — but this has never been tested before, since USDOT has not used this authority in the past.
“The Department of Transportation has generally not gotten involved in these merger cases, but that’s changing,” Secretary Buttigieg told CNN.
In late October 2023, DOJ brought its Clayton Act case to trial in Boston. When the trial ended in early December 2023, observers speculated that the judge might allow the merger to proceed if JetBlue makes additional divestitures. But those predictions proved to be incorrect — in January 2024, the judge issued a historic ruling to block the merger, agreeing with DOJ’s arguments. Shortly after this decision, JetBlue and Spirit announced that they would appeal the ruling.
If the airlines win the appeal, eyes will turn to Secretary Buttigieg to see whether the JetBlue-Spirit certificate transfer is denied based on USDOT’s investigation, which is currently ongoing. JetBlue’s spokesman has said that the company will sue USDOT if the certificate transfer is rejected, which would lead to a court case that tests the boundaries of USDOT’s public interest standard.
Broker fraud prevention and transparency in the trucking industry
Broker fraud occurs when a broker arranges a shipment, collects the payment, but does not properly compensate the truck driver who delivered the shipment. To help prevent this type of fraud, in November 2023, FMCSA issued a final Financial Responsibility Rule that requires brokers and freight forwarders to maintain at least $75,000 in readily available assets for financial security — so if a truck driver files a claim that a broker failed to provide payment, they would receive compensation through this fund. If a broker or freight forwarder’s financial security falls below $75,000 and is not replenished within seven days, FMCSA will suspend its operating authority. Under the previous regulations, the threshold was just $25,000 for household brokers and $10,000 for all other property brokers. By raising the threshold to $75,000, there is now a much higher barrier to entry that will help prevent bad-faith actors from entering the market.
Predatory truck lease-purchase agreements
In the trucking industry, lease-purchase agreements typically involve programs where a carrier leases a truck to a driver for a certain amount of money and takes a percentage of the driver’s income from each load delivered. Drivers can end up worse off in these arrangements, and they often do not end up owning the truck.
To help develop policies to prevent predatory leases, the IIJA included a provision for USDOT to create a Truck Leasing Task Force, which Secretary Buttigieg and FMCSA formed in May 2023.
Secretary Buttigieg explained some of the issues that the Task Force will examine:
“We know that there have to be ways to make lease agreements more transparent so that you understand what you’re dealing with before you sign on the dotted line. We have to make sure that there are the right kinds of rules and parameters and guardrails around what those leasing agreements can contain. When you see some of these practices, you see people getting presented with higher mileage trucks than they might have expected. They’re not getting a chance to test drive, or they’re getting service contracts that have a lot of fine print that wind up really creating a gap between a driver thinks they are going to make and what they’re actually going to make when you take into account the costs, repair bills, insurance, and anything else that falls on the driver.”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s interview with Land Line Now (Published on July 12, 2023)
The task force will produce a final report of its conclusions and recommendations by November 2024.
16. Resilience: Provided over $3.5 billion in emergency relief to transportation systems, helped Pennsylvania quickly reopen I-95 in Philadelphia after a tanker truck crash caused a bridge collapse, launched the $7.3 billion PROTECT formula program to help communities prepare for climate-related impacts, delivered the first National Security Multi-Mission Vessel, added 12 US-flagged commercial ships available to serve in times of emergency, and supported efforts to make global food supply chains more resilient by promoting infrastructure reconstruction in Ukraine to ship grain exports.
Emergency relief and recovery
USDOT helps communities recover as safely and quickly as possible when emergencies or disasters damage transportation systems. Since 2021, FHWA’s Emergency Relief Program has provided about $3.4 billion to repair highways and bridges after natural disasters or catastrophic events, and FTA’s Emergency Relief Program has provided over $102 million to 17 transit agencies, cities, and other entities.
Perhaps the most famous example: On June 11, 2023, a tanker truck crashed and set off a large fire under I-95 in Philadelphia, causing the northbound bridge to collapse and the southbound bridge to be compromised — and the highway needed to be shut down. Fortunately, no one on the bridge was injured, but sadly, the tanker truck driver did not survive. Secretary Buttigieg, Under Secretary Carlos Monje, and FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt visited the site and provided the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) with $3 million of “quick release” Emergency Relief as an initial down payment toward funding the repairs. Governor Josh Shapiro expressed appreciation for their support: “The bottom line is the federal government, the President, Administrator Bhatt, Secretary Buttigieg have made clear they would cover the full cost.” In January 2024, FHWA provided $22 million to Pennsylvania to cover the cost of the repairs.
“Every day counts in this urgent reconstruction project, and the quick-release funding is an important step to help PennDOT rebuild the collapsed portion of I-95,” said Secretary Buttigieg. “We will continue to use every federal resource we can to help Pennsylvania restore this key artery quickly and safely.”
In consultation with FHWA, PennDOT hired a contractor to backfill the gap in the road created by the collapsed bridge, creating a temporary structure that allowed the highway to reopen while the permanent bridge replacement was constructed. The highway reopened just 12 days after the crash, and the first part of the permanent bridge replacement was completed in November 2023. In this clip from June 19, 2023, Secretary Buttigieg explained the innovative plan for reopening the highway quickly and safely:
In January 2024, Secretary Buttigieg presented a Gold Medal Award to USDOT staff who worked with PennDOT to respond to the I-95 crisis in Philadelphia:
Other notable examples of USDOT helping communities recover from emergencies: In October 2022, Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA provided $50 million in “quick release” Emergency Relief to the Florida Department of Transportation to repair roads and bridges that were damaged by Hurricane Ian — such as the bridge to Pine Island that was replaced with a temporary bridge after less than 3 days. In November 2023, the Secretary and FHWA provided $3 million to the California Department of Transportation to repair a section of I-10 near downtown Los Angeles that was damaged by a fire. The highway was reopened after about one week.
Preparing for climate impacts
In July 2022, Secretary Buttigieg joined Utah Governor Spencer Cox for a bipartisan announcement of the new Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Grant program, which was authorized by the IIJA. Through this first-of-its-kind program, USDOT is providing funding to help states and communities prepare for and respond to extreme weather events like wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat — which are expected to become more frequent due to climate change. Governor Cox said, “We are grateful to Secretary Buttigieg and our federal partners for supporting this bipartisan solution. We need more of this kind of collaborative problem solving in Washington.”
The PROTECT program will make available $7.3 billion in formula funding and $1.4 billion in competitive grants over five years. In April 2023, USDOT started accepting applications for the first round of $848 million for competitive grants.
US-flagged ships and merchant mariners
During wartime and times of emergency, the United States depends on having well-trained US merchant mariners and a ready fleet of US-flagged ships to transport goods and support US military operations.
To ensure that America has highly-trained licensed officers available to operate US-flagged merchant vessels, MARAD oversees the US Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) and provides support to State Maritime Academies. USMMA needs modern facilities to provide proper training, but some of the academy’s buildings were constructed quickly during the World War II era and have deteriorated over many decades. To revitalize the campus, in November 2022, MARAD created a new position to manage USMMA’s capital and maintenance programs. In December 2022, USMMA awarded a campuswide maintenance contract of up to $42 million over five years. And in January 2023, MARAD released an updated Capital Improvement Plan that tackles the campus’s most urgent infrastructure needs.
MARAD is also replacing five 50-year-old ships at State Maritime Academies through its new National Security Multi-Mission Vessels program. These ships serve as state-of-the-art training vessels, and they can also serve other national needs — for example, they include hospital facilities to provide humanitarian assistance in emergency situations, such as hurricanes. In September 2023, the first of these ships, the Empire State, was delivered to SUNY Maritime College.
For the first time in 25 years, MARAD has expanded the number of US-flagged commercial ships available to serve national needs in times of emergency:
- In 2021, MARAD launched the Cable Security Fleet Program, which brought two cable laying vessels under the US flag. These ships lay and repair fiber cable on the seafloor for communication networks.
- In 2023, MARAD’s $60 million annual Tanker Security Program reached full enrollment, bringing 10 tanker ships under the US flag. These ships transport fuel.
Supporting US allies to protect global supply chains
America’s economic security depends on having a strong network of allies around the world and making global supply chains more resilient against threats. Ukraine is known as the “breadbasket of Europe” and plays a vital role in the global food supply chain, contributing 10% of the world’s wheat exports (ranked as the world’s 5th largest exporter of wheat), 13% of barley exports (2nd largest), 15% of corn exports (3rd largest), and 50% of sunflower oil exports (1st largest). On February 24, 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an attack on America’s allies, and it also threatened to cause global food insecurity — which can trigger more geopolitical conflict and disruptions to international supply chains.
Since the conflict began, Secretary Buttigieg has been in close communication with his Ukrainian counterpart, Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov. In October 2022, Secretary Buttigieg, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Minister Kubrakov signed a joint statement of intent to create a US-Ukraine Infrastructure Task Force focused on Ukraine’s critical war-time needs and future post-conflict infrastructure reconstruction.
In June 2023, Secretary Buttigieg discussed reconstruction assistance for Ukraine at the G7 transport ministers meeting in Japan, which included discussion of rebuilding Ukraine’s railways using European standards for gauge widths so it will be easier to transport goods by rail between Ukraine and the European Union. Ukraine’s railways were built using the former Soviet Union’s standards for gauge widths. The G7 transport ministers issued a ministerial declaration to “…reaffirm our intent to support the restoration of sustainable transport infrastructure within Ukraine in close coordination with the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine, and in enhancing cross-border connectivity to build resilient supply chains beyond its borders, in line with the TransEuropean Transport Network.”
In November 2023, Secretary Buttigieg visited Kyiv to announce the appointment of Robert Mariner to serve as the US Transportation Advisor to Ukraine, providing on-the-ground technical assistance in Kyiv to support the Ukrainian government’s infrastructure projects.
Equity
For the first time in its history, USDOT defined equity as one of its strategic goals in June 2021 and released an Equity Action Plan in April 2022. This plan is a living document that focuses on communities that have been underserved, overburdened, and disadvantaged by past transportation decisions. It includes four Equity Objectives:
- Interventions: Ensuring that historically overburdened and underserved communities benefit from infrastructure investments through direct, hands-on technical support.
- Wealth creation: Helping to build capital, expand business networks, and develop new skills and experience among small and disadvantaged businesses and people in historically overburdened and underserved communities.
- Expanding access: Increasing access to affordable, multi-modal transportation options for historically overburdened and underserved communities.
- Power of community: Ensuring that individuals and communities have a greater voice in transportation decisions that affect them.
To advise the department’s work on equity, Secretary Buttigieg re-established USDOT’s Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity (ACTE), which was originally created by Secretary Anthony Foxx during the Obama administration and was discontinued under the Trump administration. In August 2023, the Secretary appointed 24 members to the ACTE, with former Secretary Foxx appointed as the chair of the committee.
Secretary Buttigieg has regularly discussed the responsibility to address harms caused by transportation decisions that excluded or tore apart vulnerable communities. For example, Jim Crow policies systematically excluded Black Americans from accessing the same transit services as other Americans — an injustice that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The construction of the interstate highway system displaced over a million people, with the burden falling largely on Black and low-income communities. For instance, during the early 20th century, Miami’s Black community of Overtown was considered the “Harlem of the South” until highway construction displaced about 32,000 of its 40,000 residents. Many cities in both the North and South have similar stories.
In response to conservative commentators who have thrown a fit whenever he discusses this history, the Secretary has said:
“I’m shocked by how controversial it was when I made reference to the simple fact that a lot of Black neighborhoods got wiped out by the way highways were built. And I didn’t bring it up because I want everybody to feel bad about it. I brought it up because we have funding to do something about it.”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Town hall at Carnegie Mellon University (January 26, 2024)
Below, this section discusses progress the Secretary and USDOT have made in implementing the Equity Action Plan so far.
17. Interventions: Awarded $185 million to 45 projects to reconnect communities divided by past transportation decisions and opened $3.3 billion for more reconnection projects, awarded $919 million in Rural Surface Transportation grants, increased funding for Tribal bridge projects by 14-fold, provided intensive technical assistance to the first 64 communities in the new Thriving Communities Program which supports underserved and overburdened communities, awarded 70% of 2023 RAISE grants to historically disadvantaged communities, and launched the Equitable Transportation Community Explorer to map data on transportation equity.
USDOT has been providing technical support and resources to ensure that historically overburdened and underserved communities benefit from infrastructure investments funded by the IIJA.
Reconnecting communities
The IIJA created first-ever dedicated funding for USDOT to help reconnect communities that were divided by past transportation decisions. In June 2022, Secretary Buttigieg announced the launch of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, which will award $1 billion over five years. The Inflation Reduction Act, which was enacted in August 2022, also created a brand new $3 billion Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program, which also funds reconnection projects.
These programs give communities flexibility to propose their own solutions. As the Secretary explained: “In some places, that might mean that you have a road that’s cutting up a neighborhood — it needs to go underground and then you can put a cap over it, and then you can create a park in that cap and create value in the whole neighborhood. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be as elaborate and expensive as that. Maybe it’s creating a transit link or a pedestrian bridge. It’s going to look different in every community.”
In February 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded the first round of $185 million from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program to 45 projects. USDOT published a StoryMap to highlight the history and significance of these projects.
The largest grant of $55.6 million was awarded to construct a highway cap over the Kensington Expressway in Buffalo, New York to reconnect the East Side community, which is predominantly Black, with other nearby neighborhoods. The cap will reconnect several east-west roads, create greenspace, safer pedestrian crossings, and make it easier for residents to reach local services and amenities.
In March 2023, Secretary Buttigieg visited Buffalo to celebrate the grant with members of the community, including local activist Stephanie Barber-Geter who spent her life advocating for the East Side and worked for many years to move this project forward. The Secretary paid tribute to Ms. Barber-Geter when she passed away in January 2024.
In the summer of 2023, USDOT began accepting applications for over $3.3 billion from the next round of Reconnecting Communities grants and the first round of Neighborhood Access and Equity grants — since these two programs are similar, they were combined into one notice of funding opportunity.
Here are more examples of projects funded by the first round of Reconnecting Communities grants:
- The New Jersey Transit Corporation received $13.2 million to remove an at-grade rail crossing and construct a pedestrian tunnel at Long Branch Station to provide easier access to the station and connect the communities on the east and west sides of the station. Right now, there is no access to the station from the western side, and people have to travel around the station to reach shops, restaurants, medical services, and community services on the other side.
- The city of Boston, Massachusetts received $1.8 million to assess the feasibility of reconnecting the Chinatown neighborhood separated by the construction of I-90 in the 1960s. The grant will fund the development of a plan to build an open space for the community across the highway and link the surrounding streets and facilities.
- The city of Tampa, Florida received over $5.3 million to lower an interchange ramp to street level, restoring neighborhood connectivity that was severed by the construction of I-275. New bicycle and pedestrian routes will be added, and a Community Advisory Committee will help guide the equitable implementation of the project. The project seeks to make it easier for residents in Downtown Tampa to access the city’s riverfront.
“Reconnecting Communities is not a program, it’s a principle,” said Christopher Coes, USDOT’s Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, who helped to design this initiative. Efforts to reconnect communities are not limited to one or two programs — this principle can be seen throughout USDOT’s work under the Biden administration. For example, in September 2022, Secretary Buttigieg announced a $105 million INFRA grant that will replace I-375 and reconnect neighborhoods in Detroit.
Investments in rural and Tribal communities
Rural communities often struggle to access investment and resources for transportation services. Four out of five bridges in the United States that are in poor condition are in rural areas. And 45% of roadway deaths occur on rural roads, even though only 19% of the US population lives in rural areas. Roadway deaths disproportionately impact Tribal communities. Native Americans are two to three times more likely to die in car crashes than any other ethnic group.
The IIJA includes new, expanded, and continuing programs that are specifically designed to help rural and Tribal communities:
- The IIJA created the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program, which includes $2 billion over five years for competitive grants to improve and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas. So far, Secretary Buttigieg has awarded over $919 million from this program combined in 2022 and 2023.
- The Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) provides technical assistance to rural communities, Tribes, and historically disadvantaged communities to help them access federal funding opportunities for transportation projects.
- The IIJA authorized over $3 billion over five years for FHWA’s Tribal Transportation Program (TTP). Within this program, 4% of funding is set aside for the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund, which funds competitive grants for projects that improve roadway safety.
- The IIJA authorized $1 billion for the Tribal Transportation Bridge Program over five years — a 14-fold increase over its previous funding level. Federally-recognized Tribes may apply for this funding at any time. In the past, this program was funded through TTP set-asides, but under the IIJA, it is now funded through set-asides from the Bridge Formula Program and the Bridge Investment Program. By creating this separate fund for Tribal bridge projects, the IIJA freed up more TTP funding for non-bridge projects.
- FHWA’s Tribal High Priority Projects Program (Tribal HPP) funds high-priority projects that are too large to be covered by TTP funding. The IIJA authorized $150 million over five years for this program, in addition to the $45 million set aside from the TTP for this program.
- FHWA’s Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) funds seven regional TTAP centers that provide technical assistance to 567 federally-recognized Tribes.
- The IIJA reauthorized multiple FTA formula grant programs that support public transit in rural areas. Over a five-year period, the Formula Grants for Rural Areas program will allocate over $4 billion, the Rural Transit Assistance Program (which helps rural transit agencies with training and technical assistance) will allocate $91 million, and the Appalachian Development Public Transportation Assistance Program will allocate $138 million.
- Over five years, the IIJA authorized FTA’s Public Transportation on Indian Reservations program to allocate $183 million in formula grants and $46 million in competitive grants.
- The IIJA created a new Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program, which makes $10 million available over five years to help rural and Tribal communities do project planning activities so that they can apply for USDOT credit or grant programs. USDOT began accepting applications to this program in August 2023.
- The IIJA created the National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Program, which includes $1 billion over five years to support projects that improve the passage of anadromous fish species. Protecting fish populations is vital to the livelihoods and way of life of many Tribal communities. In August 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA awarded $196 million to 59 Tribal, state, and local governments to fix or remove 169 culvert barriers to improve fish passage.
- The IIJA created the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, which includes $350 million over five years for projects designed to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity. In particular, this affects rural communities that intersect with wildlife migratory paths. In December 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA awarded the first round of $110 million to 19 wildlife crossing projects in 17 states, including four Tribes.
- Half of the funding from the Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program must be awarded to projects in rural areas.
In total, the IIJA includes $13 billion over five years specifically for Tribal communities, in addition to the many competitive grant programs that Tribes are eligible for.
USDOT has also produced toolkits and guidance specifically for rural and Tribal communities. In February 2022, USDOT published a new toolkit for planning and funding rural and Tribal electric mobility infrastructure — such as electric vehicle charging stations. As part of the Biden administration’s EV Initiative for Tribal Nations, USDOT is providing technical assistance to Tribal communities for EV infrastructure planning. And in 2023, USDOT hosted multiple events to help Tribal communities access technical assistance, including a first-ever Tribal Transit Symposium, a second Tribal Aviation Symposium, and a first-ever Tribal Maritime Roundtable.
Secretary Buttigieg and Arlando Teller, USDOT’s Assistant Secretary for Tribal Government Affairs, have regularly met with Tribal leaders across the country to gather feedback and insights. For example, in November 2022, the Secretary met with Pueblo governors and Apache leaders in New Mexico, leaders in Navajo Nation, and leaders in Hopi Nation — a common insight from these discussions was the importance of providing more technical assistance.
In June 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe a $4 million RAISE grant for transportation planning activities to address aging infrastructure, limited pedestrian access, lack of ADA accessibility, and inefficient storm water drainage. And the Secretary met with leaders of the nine Sioux Tribes of South Dakota in September 2023 to discuss roadway safety, emergency response, and public transit.
In August 2023, the Secretary visited the Tribal community in Kotzebue, Alaska, which has unique challenges in receiving goods. In November 2023, the Secretary awarded a $2.4 million grant to assess the feasibility of constructing a potential port at Cape Blossom near Kotzebue.
In January 2024, Secretary Buttigieg awarded a $95 million INFRA grant to the Gila River Indian Community I-10 Project, which will improve the safety and accessibility of 26 miles of highway in Arizona. Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community celebrated the grant with the Secretary.
Aiding disadvantaged communities and areas of persistent poverty
In 2022 and 2023 combined, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA awarded over $36 million through the Areas of Persistent Poverty (AoPP) Program to improve transit in low-income areas. For example, in the Savannah, Georgia region, Chatham Area Transit received $400,000 to study ways to create transit connections between three job centers that have over 2,000 new job opportunities and neighborhoods that have high levels of racial inequity or persistent poverty — which will help connect people to jobs.
Secretary Buttigieg has also prioritized RAISE grants to alleviate poverty — awarding nearly two-thirds of RAISE grants in 2022 and 70% of RAISE grants in 2023 to historically disadvantaged communities or areas of persistent poverty.
USDOT is also part of the Biden administration’s Justice40 Initiative, committing to deliver at least 40 percent of the benefits from key investments to disadvantaged communities. In November 2023, USDOT published its methodology for tracking Justice40 goals.
Helping to guide progress on the Justice40 initiative, in May 2023, USDOT launched the Equitable Transportation Community (ETC) Explorer. The ETC Explorer is an interactive web application that uses 2020 Census Tracts and data to explore burdens and disadvantages that communities face in these five areas: Transportation Insecurity, Climate and Disaster Risk Burden, Environmental Burden, Health Vulnerability, and Social Vulnerability.
Thriving Communities Program
Many local governments in disadvantaged communities do not have the staff and resources to navigate the lifecycle of a complex infrastructure project and the process of applying for federal funding. So USDOT has expanded its technical assistance to these communities to help them through that process.
In October 2022, USDOT launched the new Thriving Communities Program, which was authorized by the IIJA, to provide intensive technical assistance and capacity building support to underserved and overburdened communities. This program coordinates with other federal agencies including the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, so communities will receive technical assistance for both transportation and housing development projects. In April 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced the selection of the first group of 64 communities in 42 states, 6 Tribal nations, and Puerto Rico to participate in the program, and these communities were awarded $21 million for planning activities.
Each participating community is included in one of these categories based on their needs and goals:
- Main Streets — Focused on Tribal, rural and small-town communities and the interconnected transportation, community, and economic development issues they face. Example: Mineral County, Nevada wants to advance local storm water infrastructure improvements to repair roadways from flooding events and improve community walkability.
- Complete Neighborhoods — Focused on urban and suburban communities working to better advance complete streets policies and/or transit-oriented development, coordinating transportation with land use, housing, and economic development. Example: The city of Omaha, Nebraska is exploring ways to better serve the community in the North Freeway corridor, which has historically been burdened by transportation bisection, displacement, and redlining of a predominantly Black neighborhood.
- Networked Communities — Focused on those communities located near ports, airports, freight, and rail facilities to address mobility, access, housing, environmental justice, and economic issues. Example: The Osceola Port Authority in Arkansas is seeking to improve quality-of-life for residents in Mississippi County’s Census Tract 110, which has faced safety risks and air pollution from heavy truck traffic that currently goes through the neighborhood.
The Thriving Communities Program also funds “Capacity Builders” — non-governmental organizations that provide additional technical assistance to communities that participate in the program. In 2023, the first four Capacity Builders were selected and awarded over $21 million to provide technical assistance to communities over a two-year period.
In September 2023, USDOT began accepting applications for the next round of the Thriving Communities Program.
In November 2023, Secretary Buttigieg welcomed Thriving Community Program participants to a convening in Washington, DC where attendees had the opportunity to connect, get information and resources, and share their experiences and practices.
18. Wealth creation: Facilitated project labor agreements for 319 FHWA-funded projects totaling $9.9 billion, including $3.2 billion with local hiring preferences; exceeded an ambitious goal for 21% of USDOT contracts to go to small disadvantaged businesses; awarded over $2 billion in direct procurement to small disadvantaged businesses in FY 2023, which is over $600 million more than in FY 2021; launched the Connections MarketPlace platform to connect small businesses with federal procurement officials; and proposed changes to USDOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program to give businesses more flexibility to grow.
USDOT has been helping to build capital, expand business networks, and develop new skills and experience among small disadvantaged businesses and people in historically overburdened and underserved communities.
Local hiring preferences
Often, construction projects within historically disadvantaged communities are not hiring people from the local community. And under past USDOT policies, project sponsors were not allowed to include local hiring preferences in project labor agreements unless they had special permission. To remove this barrier, in May 2021, Secretary Buttigieg reinstated an Obama-era local hire pilot program that the Trump administration had discontinued. And then in November 2021, the IIJA authorized the use of local hiring preferences by law, so USDOT’s local hire pilot program was no longer needed.
The Secretary discussed this issue on The Breakfast Club radio show in November 2023:
Under Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, USDOT has actively encouraged local hiring in historically disadvantaged communities. Over the past three years, project labor agreements have been established for 319 FHWA-funded projects totaling $9.9 billion, including $3.2 billion with local hiring preferences.
As one example, the HireLAX Program gives local residents in Los Angeles the opportunity to enroll in a comprehensive construction apprenticeship program. After completing the apprenticeship, graduates can be placed on a Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) construction project through LAWA contractors and local craft unions. Secretary Buttigieg met with HireLAX graduates in July 2022.
“But what I saw this morning, joining the graduates of HireLAX, hearing about their experiences, was truly moving — and something that we need to be looking at nationwide. They shared stories about how their lives, the trajectories of their lives, have been changed by the opportunities for good-paying jobs in construction. And they shared a contagious pride that comes from being able to take a loved one to the airport and say, ‘I put that sign in there,’ or ‘I was there when we built that pillar,’ or ‘I know why that escalator is where it is.’”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Remarks in Los Angeles (July 7, 2022)
Support for small disadvantaged businesses
Secretary Buttigieg has also been working to improve USDOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, which creates opportunities for disadvantaged businesses to compete for contracts for federally-funded projects. In July 2022, USDOT proposed a new rule that will give DBEs more room to grow while participating in the program.
In FY 2022 and 2023, USDOT set an ambitious goal for 21% of its federal contracts to go to small disadvantaged businesses — the department exceeded that goal and will now raise the goal. In FY 2023, USDOT awarded over $2 billion in direct procurement to small disadvantaged businesses, which is over $600 million more than in FY 2021 ($1.369 billion) and over $200 million more than in FY 2022 ($1.78 billion).
Many small disadvantaged businesses may not know how to compete for federal contracts. So in February 2022, USDOT launched the Connections MarketPlace (CMP) — a free platform to help small businesses connect with federal procurement officials. As of June 2023, USDOT had hosted 22 CMP sessions with more than 2,900 small businesses in participation.
Workforce development funding
Under the IIJA, workforce development-related activities are funded at 100% federal share. In January 2023, FHWA issued new guidance to clarify which Federal-aid formula funds can be used by states and US territories to support workforce development including training, education, and registered apprenticeship. The IIJA also expanded the type of workforce activities that are eligible for funding, including recruiting, counseling, transportation, remedial training, and childcare services; education-related activities such as commercial driver license training, work-study and scholarship programs; and internships and skills development training programs.
In July 2023, Secretary Buttigieg joined First Lady Jill Biden and Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su to visit the construction site of the new terminal at the Pittsburgh International Airport. The airport opened a new on-site childcare center that is open to construction workers, apprentices, and most airport workers — making it easier for parents to pursue these careers.
Each year, FHWA distributes formula funding to support small businesses owned by minorities, women, and other socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. In January 2023, FHWA distributed $10 million for this purpose.
19. Expanding access: Awarded $686 million to make older transit stations ADA-compliant, began a rulemaking process to penalize airlines for mishandling wheelchairs and require training to handle wheelchairs, finalized a rule to require new single-aisle airline planes to have lavatories that are large enough for a wheelchair user and an attendant, published the first-ever Bill of Rights for Airline Passengers with Disabilities, pushed United Airlines to offer new accommodations for wheelchair users, and began laying the groundwork for a potential rule to allow passengers to remain in their own wheelchairs when they fly.
USDOT has been working to improve historically overburdened and underserved communities’ access to affordable, multi-modal transportation options.
Accessibility for airline passengers
When Pete Buttigieg ran for President in 2020, an airline broke the wheelchair of a campaign staffer named Emily Voorde while she was traveling with Pete’s husband Chasten. In this video, she explained how common it is for airlines to damage wheelchairs and described how demeaning that experience is:
After the 2020 election, Voorde joined the Biden administration and worked with Secretary Buttigieg to promote accessible transportation.
In July 2022, USDOT published the first-ever Bill of Rights for Airline Passengers with Disabilities. This Bill of Rights is a user-friendly guide so passengers are aware of their rights and airline personnel are aware of their responsibilities, which will help promote better compliance and enforcement of existing rules.
In July 2023, USDOT issued a final rule to require airlines to make lavatories on new single-aisle aircraft large enough for a passenger with a disability and an attendant to be able to enter and maneuver as needed. Given the time required to design, certify, and manufacture new aircraft, it will take about a decade before the flying public sees the impacts of this rule — but that is all the more reason why it was important that the Biden administration pushed to get this rule finalized as quickly as feasible.
In September 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced that USDOT had reached an agreement with United Airlines — following a lengthy USDOT investigation into an incident in which United broke the wheelchair of passenger named Engracia Figueroa, forcing her to use a manual wheelchair that did not fit her body, which caused an infection that led to her death in October 2021. Under pressure from USDOT’s investigation, United agreed to:
- Roll out a flight filter on its booking engine to make it easier for passengers who use wheelchairs to find flights where their wheelchairs can fit and be safely transported.
- Refund the fare difference for passengers with wheelchairs that use the flight filter when the passenger’s preferred flight cannot accommodate their wheelchair and the flight that they travel on with their wheelchair is more expensive.
- Conduct a pilot program to explore whether additional equipment, such as a medical wheelchair or other form of moveable or non-moveable chair, can be utilized to safely accommodate passengers waiting for loaner wheelchairs because of damage or delay to their personal wheelchairs during a flight.
- Seek feedback from each passenger who checks a wheelchair for transport in the aircraft cargo compartment. United will take the feedback into consideration when developing and enhancing its practices and procedures for handling wheelchairs.
In USDOT’s Significant Rulemaking Report published in September 2023, USDOT reported that it has initiated a rulemaking that would make airline mishandling of assistive devices (e.g., wheelchairs) a regulatory violation that is subject to administrative penalties. The proposed rule will also address airline processes for returning, repairing, and replacing mishandled wheelchairs and the need for loaner chair accommodations. And it will require airlines to provide hands-on training to their employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with mobility disabilities or handle battery-powered wheelchairs or scooters. This proposed rule is expected to be published in early 2024.
Secretary Buttigieg has also pledged to pursue new rules that would move the airline industry toward allowing passengers to remain in their own wheelchairs when they fly. USDOT says that it has begun laying the preliminary groundwork for a potential future rule to enable this. The airline industry has started to design solutions that could make this rule feasible. A consortium called Air4all and Delta Flight Products, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, has developed a prototype for a new seat design that could allow wheelchair users to sit in their own wheelchairs during a flight.
The IIJA also includes an unprecedented amount of federal funding — $5 billion over five years — to improve airport terminals, including making accessibility improvements. For example, in 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA awarded $6 million to the Colorado Springs Airport to completely remodel its terminal concourse to improve ADA accessibility, including holding areas and restrooms.
In a speech to the advocacy group All Wheels Up in October 2023, Secretary Buttigieg summarized USDOT’s work to improve the accessibility of commercial air travel:
Transit station accessibility
There are over 900 transit stations in the United States that were built before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and are not accessible. So the IIJA created a brand new All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) that funds ADA-compliant retrofits to these transit stations. In December 2022, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA awarded $686 million from this program to fund 15 projects in 9 states. For example, New York City received $254 million to make its Myrtle Avenue, Norwood Avenue, and Avenue I subway stations in Brooklyn and the Burnside Avenue subway station in the Bronx fully accessible, installing elevators, updating platforms to reduce gaps and add tactile platform edge warning strips, modifying fare gates and stairs, and improving handrails.
In December 2023, FTA began accepting applications for the next round of $343 million in ASAP grants.
Improving access to health care services
The IIJA expanded funding for FTA’s Innovative Coordinated Access & Mobility Pilot Program (ICAM) — a competitive grant program that seeks to improve the coordination of transportation services and non-emergency medical transportation services so that historically disadvantaged communities have better access to health care services. In June 2022, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA awarded $8.4 million to 17 projects in 16 states through this program. For example, the state of Ohio received $2.8 million to partner with Medicaid to launch a regional one-stop hub for trip scheduling and mobility management in the state’s southeast corner.
In November 2023, FTA began accepting applications for the next round of $4.7 million in ICAM funding.
Monitoring and studying transportation insecurity
In February 2023, FTA awarded $6 million to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies to lead and develop the new Mobility, Access & Transportation Insecurity (MATI) Program. The term “transportation insecurity” refers to circumstances in which people lack regular and reliable access to transportation to meet their daily needs. MATI researchers will identify factors that contribute to transportation insecurity, and they will work with communities to develop and implement demonstration projects that use public transit to reduce transportation insecurity. Researchers will evaluate the effectiveness of these demonstration projects and document potential strategies. The project is expected to be completed in 2027.
In May 2023, USDOT launched the Equitable Transportation Community Explorer, which includes a Transportation Insecurity Analysis Tool.
20. Power of community: Signed the first-ever Tribal transportation self-governance compacts with the Cherokee Nation and Ohkay Owingeh, giving Tribal leaders greater control over transportation decisions; updated USDOT’s Tribal Consultation Policy for the first time in 20 years with more clearly-defined procedures for consulting with Tribal leaders; strengthened USDOT’s enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and required grant recipients to meet standards for community participation; and published a guide on best practices for meaningful public involvement in transportation decision-making.
USDOT has been working to ensure that individuals and communities have a greater voice in transportation decisions that affect them.
Public input guidance
Transportation projects that fail to consider the diverse range of community perspectives are less likely to serve community needs equitably and are more likely to face delays and public resistance. To help project sponsors follow best practices to include community members in various stages of transportation decision-making, in October 2022, USDOT released a guide on Promising Practices for Meaningful Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making. An updated version of this document was released in November 2023.
“Public involvement is not an afterthought in the decision-making process, but rather a core tenet for agencies, organizations, partners, and individuals who work on USDOT-funded projects to evaluate, plan, prioritize, design, construct, and maintain transportation improvements and investments. Engaging the public early and often can also help avoid costly re-work and delays later in the project lifecycle, including potential litigation or complaints from community members. Applying these practices will help agencies consistently deliver successful projects.”
USDOT, Promising Practices for Meaningful Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making (November 2023)
Civil rights enforcement
Most federal transportation funding is provided through formula grants to state governments, and unlike discretionary grants, Secretary Buttigieg has much less control over how states use this formula funding. But if these federal dollars are used for discriminatory purposes, USDOT has enforcement authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is overseen by Irene Marion, USDOT’s Director of the Departmental Office of Civil Rights. In June 2021, USDOT strengthened its programmatic enforcement of Title VI, replacing the weaker policies and standards that existed under the Trump administration. These new policies require each USDOT administration (e.g., FHWA, FTA, etc.) to develop requirements for community participation that project sponsors must follow as a condition to receive USDOT funding.
Under Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, USDOT has taken a much more proactive approach to Title VI enforcement. Rather than waiting until after a violation has occurred, USDOT’s Office of Civil Rights is working with project sponsors early in the process to help them identify potential issues.
“USDOT and FHWA acknowledge that past transportation decisions either failed to consider, or consciously disregarded, the disproportionate impacts our actions would have on minorities and low-income communities. With this acknowledgement, we are now transforming our approach to Title VI. Instead of maintaining a passive approach to Title VI by limiting our actions to complaint investigations, we are taking proactive and strategic steps to assist our recipients in building their own programs to identify possible racial disparities and remedy or avoid discriminatory practices. Recognizing potential Title VI issues early on in transportation planning is key to preventing major enforcement heartburn later, such as delaying a major project or providing financial compensation to impacted persons.”
Irene Rico, Associate Administrator, FHWA Office of Civil Rights
“Sixty Years of the Civil Rights Act: Examining the Legacy of FHWA’s Title VI Enforcement and Its Ongoing Duty to Promote Non-Discrimination,” Public Roads (Winter 2024)
USDOT receives and processes Title VI complaints, which are usually remedied through a voluntary resolution process. For example, in March 2021, FHWA invoked Title VI to ask the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to pause construction on a project to widen, reroute, and realign I-45 through downtown Houston. After a federal investigation, FHWA reached a voluntary resolution agreement with TxDOT in March 2023. Under the agreement, TxDOT committed to limit the footprint of the project, minimize the displacement of residents, provide an additional $3 million for affordable housing initiatives, offer housing relocation supplements to displaced tenants, and follow extensive protocols for disclosing information and communicating with the public — among many other measures to mitigate the negative impacts of the project.
Tribal consultation and Tribal self-governance
Respecting Tribal sovereignty and self-determination, USDOT and other federal agencies have a unique legal obligation to conduct Tribal consultation, which is defined as: “The affirmative responsibility of the federal government to proactively seek to engage in a meaningful, timely, and clear exchange of information between federal and Tribal officials with decision-making authority on a proposed policy that has Tribal implications or on a matter that affects a Tribal interest.”
For the first time in 20 years, USDOT updated its Tribal Consultation Policy and Procedures in August 2023. The process for updating this policy involved two rounds of Tribal consultation. Compared to the previous policy, this new policy lays out much more detailed and clearly-defined procedures for conducting Tribal consultation. For example, it includes a requirement that USDOT must give Tribal leaders at least 60 days notice before conducting a Tribal consultation meeting. The notice must explain the purpose of the consultation and include a copy of the proposed policy or regulation that will be discussed at the meeting. After the notice is issued, Tribes must be allowed to submit written comments until 30 days after the consultation meeting occurs.
Over the past three years, USDOT has also made enormous progress in implementing its Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program (TTSGP), which provides federally-recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations with greater control, flexibility, and decision-making authority over the use of FHWA and FTA formula funding. In June 2022, USDOT’s Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg and the Cherokee Nation signed the first-ever TTSGP compact. Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said, “Having oversight for the first time to plan, lead and oversee the finance of our own road projects will only mean more and better investments in terms of travel and infrastructure in the Cherokee Nation to the benefit of thousands of citizens.”
In January 2024, Secretary Buttigieg signed a TTSGP compact with leaders of Ohkay Owingeh, which became the second Tribe to form this agreement.
Measuring public involvement
In August 2022, USDOT administered an online survey to State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) regarding their equity practices. About 70 percent of all State DOTs and MPOs responded to the survey and the response was representative of the overall population. The results of this survey were summarized in a report published in November 2023.
The survey found that 51% of State DOTs and 61–62% of MPOs have a policy or process to include underserved communities in decision-making. This information will help USDOT set targets for key performance indicators in the department’s strategic plan.
Requiring public engagement
In February 2023, NHTSA issued a final rule, as required by the IIJA, updating its Uniform Procedures for State Highway Safety Grant Programs. These updated procedures require grant recipients to conduct meaningful public engagement, especially among those most significantly impacted by dangerous roadway crashes.
Climate
Transportation produces more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector in the US economy, so it will need to be the largest part of the solution to climate change. In April 2021, President Biden set a national goal to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 (relative to 2005 levels) and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Shortly after taking office, in April 2021, Secretary Buttigieg re-established USDOT’s Climate Change Center and appointed Dr. Robert Hampshire to serve as USDOT’s first Chief Science Officer in decades. “The re-introduction of a Chief Science Officer underscores transportation’s key role in addressing the complexity and criticality of our dynamically changing climate… It is important that USDOT incorporate scientific research to advance climate change initiatives that are fair and equitable to all,” said Dr. Hampshire, who also serves as USDOT’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.
To understand USDOT’s strategy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a good place to start is the US National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, which was published in January 2023 by the US Department of Energy, USDOT, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. There are three key strategies outlined in the blueprint:
- Increase convenience by supporting community design and land-use planning so people can live near jobs and services, which reduces commutes and improves walkability, bike-ability, and quality of life.
- Improve efficiency by expanding affordable, accessible, efficient, and reliable options like public transportation and rail, and improve the efficiency of all vehicles.
- Transition to clean options by deploying zero-emission vehicles and fuels for transportation.
Secretary Buttigieg gives a helpful overview of these three strategies in this clip:
The “Transportation options” section already touched on strategies to promote transit-oriented development, public transit, walking, biking, passenger rail, etc. And the “Resilience” section already discussed USDOT’s programs to help communities prepare for the impacts of climate change.
So this section will focus on USDOT’s initiatives to:
- Promote zero-emission and low-emission vehicles; and
- Integrate climate action into investment decisions and operations.
21. Zero-emission and low-emission vehicles: Raised fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks to save 2.5 billion tons of emissions through 2050 and sharply raised enforcement penalties; opened $2.4 billion to begin building a nationwide network of EV fast chargers every 50 miles along 75,000 miles of highway; awarded $623 million to build EV chargers and hydrogen fueling stations in communities and corridors; required interoperability for federally-funded EV chargers, spurring Tesla to open up 7,500 of its chargers by the end of 2024; repaired or replaced nearly 4,500 charging ports; funded over 1,800 zero-emission buses, doubling these buses in the US; announced nearly $400 million to develop sustainable aviation fuel and other technologies to cut aircraft emissions; and awarded nearly $100 million for electric or low-emission ferry systems.
As one of multiple strategies needed to cut transportation emissions, USDOT has been encouraging the adoption of vehicles (including automobiles, trucks, aircraft, ships, trains, etc.) that use energy more efficiently or use low-emission energy sources.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
In 2012, the Obama administration finalized a rule to raise NHTSA’s CAFE standards by an average of 5% annually through model year 2025. In 2020, the Trump administration quickly moved to roll back these standards to increase by an average of just 1.5% annually through model year 2026.
In April 2022, Secretary Buttigieg announced that CAFE standards would be ratcheted back up by 8% annually for model years 2023–2025 and 10% annually for model year 2026. The new standard requires an average of 49 miles per gallon by 2026, so Americans purchasing new vehicles in 2026 will get 33% more miles per gallon as compared to 2021 vehicles. NHTSA estimates that this will reduce fuel use by more than 200 billion gallons and carbon emissions by 2.5 billion metric tons through 2050.
Under Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, NHTSA has also been tightening enforcement of CAFE standards. In March 2022, NHTSA finalized a rule that more than doubled the penalty for automakers whose vehicles fail to meet the standard for model year 2019 and beyond. For the 2019 to 2021 model years, the fine is $14, up from $5.50, for every 0.1 mile per gallon new vehicles fall short of the standard, multiplied by the number of noncompliant vehicles sold. For the 2022 model year, the penalty was increased to $15.
In July 2023, NHTSA proposed an update to its CAFE standards, presenting a range of possible options. Under NHTSA’s preferred option, there would be a 2% annual increase in fuel efficiency for passenger cars and a 4% annual increase for light trucks beginning in model year 2027 and ramping up through model year 2032, potentially reaching an average fuel economy of 58 miles per gallon by 2032. The proposal also includes a 10% annual increase in fuel efficiency for commercial pickup trucks and work vans beginning in model year 2030 and ramping up through model year 2035. NHTSA estimates that this proposal would save more than 88 billion gallons of gasoline and prevent more than 900 million metric tons of carbon emissions through 2050.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure
Over the past three years, EV sales in the United States have more than quadrupled, and there are now over 4.5 million EVs on the road. To encourage this growth, President Biden has set a goal of deploying 500,000 EV chargers by 2030. And so far under the Biden administration, the number of publicly available charging ports has increased by over 70 percent, with 170,000 EV chargers across the country — so the US appears likely to reach the President’s goal ahead of schedule.
The federal government is also leading the movement toward EVs in its procurement. USDOT has added 388 zero-emission vehicles to its fleet over the past three years.
It is important to expand EV charging infrastructure to reduce range anxiety and make EVs a more convenient option for more Americans. USDOT and the US Department of Energy are collaborating on initiatives to expand charging networks. To facilitate this collaboration, the IIJA established the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office), which Secretary Buttigieg and Secretary Jennifer Granholm officially launched in December 2021.
The IIJA created two programs to expand and strengthen America’s EV charging network:
(1) The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program
Based on a formula set by Congress, the NEVI Program is authorized to distribute a total of $5 billion over five years across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to construct a nationwide network of EV fast chargers, with a charger located every 50 miles along 75,000 miles of major highway corridors. To be eligible for funding, these chargers need to be located within EV Alternative Fuel Corridors — which are designated by FHWA based on nominations from state and local officials each year.
Secretary Buttigieg has also sought to link these EV Alternative Fuel Corridors with the EV charging networks of neighboring countries. In May 2023, the Secretary joined Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to announce the first Binational EV Corridor between Kalamazoo, Michigan and Quebec City, which will connect with NEVI-funded fast chargers on the US side.
To participate in the NEVI Program, states had to develop and submit a State EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan to the Joint Office for FHWA approval. If a state did not submit an acceptable plan (or if it failed to implement its plan), its NEVI funding would get redistributed on a competitive basis to local governments within the state to construct eligible EV chargers. In September 2022, Secretary Buttigieg announced that all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had submitted plans that were all approved by FHWA.
In February 2023, FHWA issued a final rule establishing minimum standards and requirements for projects funded under the NEVI Program. Significantly, this rule stipulates that EV chargers are not eligible for the program unless they comply with interoperability standards. This requirement had an immediate impact on the EV industry. To qualify for NEVI funding, Tesla agreed to open 7,500 chargers from its Supercharger and Destination Charger network to non-Tesla EVs by the end of 2024. By the end of February 2023, the company had already begun opening some of its Supercharger stations.
Seeking to leverage NEVI Program funding, in July 2023, a group of international automakers — BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis — announced a joint venture to install at least 30,000 EV fast chargers along US and Canadian highways and in cities by 2030, with the first chargers opening during the summer of 2024. The automakers said that these chargers would be powered by renewable energy.
To remove barriers to constructing EV charging stations, in September 2023, USDOT used newly-enacted authority to adopt the US Department of Energy’s Categorical Exclusion for EV Charging Stations. This allowed EV charging stations to be permitted without requiring an environmental impact statement or an environmental assessment, which would unnecessarily slow the process.
So far, $2.4 billion has been made available to states through the NEVI program. In December 2023, Ohio opened the first EV charging station funded through the NEVI Program — the first of 27 stations that Ohio plans to deploy. Since then, the states of New York and Pennsylvania have also opened NEVI-funded charging stations, and the states of Maine and Vermont have broken ground on new stations. And more are on the way. So far, 28 states have issued solicitations, and over a dozen of these states have awarded contracts or have agreements in place.
The IIJA also requires that 10% of NEVI Program funding be set aside for FHWA to support states and localities that need additional assistance to deploy EV charging infrastructure. For the first round of these grants, FHWA focused on improving the reliability of the current charging network. In January 2024, FHWA awarded nearly $150 million in 20 states to repair or replace nearly 4,500 existing EV charging ports so they can return to operation.
(2) The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant Program
The CFI Program will award $2.5 billion over five years through a competitive process to invest in EV charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure at community locations — like schools, parks, libraries, multi-family housing, etc. — as well as along highways in Alternative Fuel Corridors.
In January 2024, Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA announced $623 million in CFI grants — providing $311 million to 36 community projects, including two Tribes in Alaska and Arizona, and $312 million to 11 corridor projects that are located along roadways designated as Alternative Fuel Corridors. For example, the Mount Vernon Library Commons project in Washington state received $12.5 million to install 78 EV charging ports in a public parking garage located in a historic downtown area by the Skagit River and I-5, an Alternative Fuel Corridor. The project will be built to allow for another 200 charging ports in the future, creating what could be the largest regional EV charging hub in the nation.
This round of CFI funding also included $56 million to construct two truck charging sites in Taft, CA and Gustine, CA. These two sites will include 90 DC fast chargers for passenger vehicles, 85 DC fast chargers for medium and heavy duty electric vehicles, and 17 megawatt charging standard chargers. The sites will also enhance grid stability with 63 acres of solar panels and battery electric storage systems.
Low or no-emission buses
Between 2021 and 2023, annual funding for FTA’s Low or No-Emission Bus Program increased by more than 6-fold thanks to the IIJA. This program provides competitive grants to transit agencies to purchase or lease zero-emission and low-emission transit buses, including the acquisition, construction, or leasing of facilities to support these buses. Under the IIJA, 5% of the program’s funding must go toward training transit workers on how to operate and maintain these buses.
Since 2021, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA have awarded over $2.5 billion through the Low or No-Emission Bus Program, funding over 2,900 buses. Of these 2,900 buses, the IIJA has funded over 1,800 zero-emission buses — more than doubling the number of zero-emission transit buses in the United States.
Some examples: In 2023, the city of Seattle, Washington received $33.5 million to buy about 30 battery electric buses, install charging equipment, and train workers to maintain the electric fleet. The city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi received over $6.4 million to replace diesel buses with battery electric buses, purchase charging equipment, and develop a workforce training program. In 2022, the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico received over $5.7 million to replace aging diesel buses with battery electric buses, purchase electric chargers, and create jobs, reducing carbon emissions by an estimated 887 metric tons per year.
Sustainable aviation
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is made from renewable biomass and waste resources, and it is a key part of the Biden administration’s strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector. In September 2022, USDOT, the US Department of Energy, the US Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies released the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap, which outlines a strategy to produce 3 billion gallons of SAF per year by 2030 and continue increasing SAF production to fully meet US aviation fuel demand by 2050. The Grand Challenge requires that SAF must have at least 50% lower lifecycle emissions than jet fuel. Achieving these goals would reduce US aviation emissions by 20% by 2030.
“Aviation is difficult to decarbonize because of the need for an energy-dense liquid fuel to power an aircraft that will carry several hundred passengers and cargo thousands of miles at high speeds in a vehicle that can weigh several hundred tons. To understand the energy needs of aviation, it helps to consider that at takeoff, the jet engines of a Boeing 777 wide-body jet are generating power levels comparable to a small nuclear reactor (e.g., 130 MW). Energy sources other than liquid hydrocarbon jet fuels, such as battery technologies and hydrogen, will thus be limited in the near and medium term to small aircraft flying short ranges and are not expected to contribute to substantially reducing aviation emissions until after 2050. This makes widescale production and use of SAF the highest impact near-term strategy for significantly reducing aviation emissions and achieving the nation’s net zero emissions goals for aviation by 2050.”
SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap (September 2022)
To support the Biden administration’s SAF goals, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 established new Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transition (FAST) grants, which fund two types of projects:
- FAST-SAF grants help to develop SAF infrastructure projects and build up SAF supply chains.
- FAST-Tech grants accelerate the development and demonstration of aviation technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve aircraft fuel efficiency, and increase SAF usage.
In September 2023, the FAA began accepting applications for $245 million in FAST-SAF grants and $47 million in FAST-Tech grants.
In December 2021, Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA awarded over $1.4 million to five universities to identify regional feedstock for SAF production using the region’s existing infrastructure to create a dependable SAF supply chain within reach of airports.
The FAA also promotes the development of more fuel efficient and lower-emission aircraft and engine technologies through its Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) Program. This program is being implemented in five phases, with each phase spanning five years. The first phase started in 2010, and several of the technologies that were tested during that five-year period have since been successfully integrated into new aircraft that currently operate today. In September 2021, Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA awarded over $100 million to six industry partners for the third phase of the CLEEN Program. The third phase aims to improve aircraft fuel efficiency by at least 20 percent relative to the International Civil Aviation Organization standard. For example, using this CLEEN Program grant, General Electric Aviation is developing an advanced engine propulsion system to reduce fuel consumption, electric and hybrid-electric systems to increase fuel efficiency, and advanced combustion and thermal management systems to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.
Electric or low-emitting ferries
The IIJA allocated $250 million over five years to FTA’s brand new Electric or Low-Emitting Ferry Pilot Program, and the law authorized another $250 million over five years subject to annual appropriations by Congress.
In January 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FTA awarded $97.6 million to seven projects in seven states through this new program. For example, Washington state received $4.9 million to build an electric charging facility at the Clinton Ferry Terminal, as part of plans to electrify the Mukilteo-Clinton Ferry Route. Battery-electric-powered ferries are being constructed to serve the route.
Rail decarbonization
Though USDOT does not have a dedicated grant program for cutting the emissions of freight and passenger rail, Secretary Buttigieg has awarded grants to projects that promote rail electrification. For example, in September 2023, the Secretary and FRA awarded an $11.5 million CRISI grant to bring the first-ever zero-exhaust emissions locomotives to an east coast port, replacing three older locomotives with new battery electric locomotives and constructing a battery charger at the Port of Baltimore in Maryland. In December 2023, the Secretary and FRA awarded $6.1 billion to two all-electric high-speed rail projects.
In May 2023, FRA hosted an international workshop on rail decarbonization in Denver, Colorado. The event featured presentations from key federal agencies, international experts from six countries, and US stakeholders from Amtrak, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the Association of American Railroads (AAR), BNSF Railway, Caltrans, and more.
In December 2023, Secretary Buttigieg joined Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Canada’s Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez to announce the creation of a binational Rail Decarbonization Task Force to develop a common vision to achieve net-zero emissions in the rail sector by 2050 and develop a US-Canada rail sector net-zero climate model by 2025.
Green maritime shipping
USDOT has begun studying and discussing the decarbonization of maritime shipping fleets. In September 2022, MARAD launched a 16-month study to explore low-carbon options for shipping on the Great Lakes. Researchers will assess alternative fuels and power options in the region and will develop a detailed profile of Great Lakes fleets, ports, and fueling infrastructure.
In November 2022 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27), the US and Canada had announced their intention to develop a Green Shipping Corridor Network (GSCN) on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System. In April 2023, GLS and the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation co-hosted the first Collaborative Forum to discuss the development of a GSCN.
22. Climate-conscious investment decisions and operations: Launched the $6.4 billion Carbon Reduction Program that gives states flexibility to pursue a wide range of emission-cutting strategies, adopted USDOT’s first-ever department-wide Buy Clean policy to prioritize low-carbon construction materials in federal procurement, opened $160 million for solutions that cut air pollution from truck idling at ports, awarded nearly $200 million to port infrastructure projects that support offshore wind development, optimized the descent path of aircraft to save millions of gallons of jet fuel at 53 airports, finished testing NASA software to efficiently manage air traffic and avoid over 75,000 tons of emissions each year, and developed a consistent metric for states to track transportation emissions.
Secretary Buttigieg has said, “Inevitably, every transportation decision is a climate decision, whether we acknowledge it or not.”
With that philosophy in mind, over the past three years, the Secretary and USDOT have integrated climate action into all kinds of decisions —such as how to evaluate grant applications, which building materials to procure, and how to manage air traffic. And thanks to the IIJA, the Secretary and USDOT have been providing state and local governments with lots of resources and flexibility to integrate climate action into their transportation investment and operational decisions.
Carbon Reduction Program
The IIJA established a new Carbon Reduction Program (CRP), which will make $6.4 billion available over five years to state and local governments based on a formula set by Congress. Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA launched the program in April 2022, laying out guidelines that give communities a tremendous amount of flexibility to use this funding to cut carbon emissions. CRP dollars can be used for pedestrian trails, bike lanes, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, projects that support congestion pricing, truck parking facilities to reduce emissions from idling, energy efficient street lighting, port electrification systems, public transit projects like bus rapid transit and dedicated bus lanes, and much more. And if a state or local government has a project type that is not explicitly listed in the CRP guidelines, they can use CRP funding as long as they demonstrate to FHWA that the project would cut transportation emissions over the project’s lifecycle.
To be eligible to access CRP funding, each state (in consultation with local governments in their state) was required to submit a Carbon Reduction Strategy to FHWA by November 15, 2023 that identifies projects that cut emissions. This strategy must be updated at least once every four years.
Every state submitted a Carbon Reduction Strategy to access the CRP funding — except for Florida. In a bizarre move, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rejected $320 million that could have been used for truck parking or any number of other transportation projects.
Low-carbon building materials
As mentioned above, in April 2022, the Secretary and FHWA launched the $6.4 billion Carbon Reduction Program (CRP). State and local governments can use CRP funding for sustainable pavements and building materials, as long as they use FHWA’s LCA Pave Tool to demonstrate that these materials would reduce lifecycle emissions compared to the typical materials that they would otherwise use.
The Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in August 2022, established a new FHWA Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants Program that will award $2 billion for projects that use construction materials that have substantially lower levels of lifecycle carbon emissions compared to industry averages.
In September 2022, Secretary Buttigieg announced USDOT’s first-ever department-wide Buy Clean policy to prioritize low-carbon construction materials in federal procurement. To make this announcement, the Secretary visited the Cleveland-Cliffs Direct Reduction Plant in Toledo, Ohio that produces hot-briquetted iron, which is a lower-emission alternative to prime scrap and imported pig iron for steelmaking.
In October 2022, USDOT awarded $7.1 million to 25 states that participated in its Climate Challenge to quantify emissions from construction materials and design selection.
In April 2023, the Secretary and the FAA selected a sustainable air traffic control tower design that will use high-recycled steel and metal products.
Cutting emissions at US ports
Cutting air pollution at US ports has been a key priority for Secretary Buttigieg and the Biden administration — not only because of the climate benefits, but also to improve the health and quality of life of residents who live near ports. Pollution at ports is especially problematic, because about 60% of large ocean-bound ships use extremely dirty heavy fuel oil, commonly known as “bunker fuel”. And a constant flow of truck traffic goes in and out of ports. Also, port cranes and other port equipment typically use diesel fuel.
The IIJA created a new Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities (RTEPF) Grant Program that will award $400 million over five years for projects that reduce emissions from idling trucks at US ports. These grants can fund:
- Port-related infrastructure that reduces emissions from truck idling;
- On-truck technologies that reduce emissions from idling;
- The use of zero or low emissions powertrains or fuels on trucks;
- Reducing truck congestion within or near ports, including through enhanced intermodal rail connections; and
- Port electrification and improving the efficiency of port operations to reduce emissions from idling trucks.
In April 2023, FHWA began accepting applications for the first round of $160 million in RTEPF grants.
Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have also awarded grants through the Port Infrastructure Development Program (which will award $2.25 billion over five years under the IIJA) to projects that cut emissions. Some examples:
- The Port of San Diego in California received over $11 million for a project that will enable ships to connect to the electrical power grid while alongside the terminal berth, allowing ships to avoid burning dirty fuel while at the port.
- The Port of Wilmington in Delaware received $50 million to construct a container yard with all-electric operations.
- The Port of Long Beach in California received over $30 million to replace diesel yard tractors with about 60 electric yard tractors, construct electric charging infrastructure with energy load management software to improve energy efficiency, and install software to improve the efficiency of cargo-handling operations.
- The Port of Seattle in Washington state received over $17 million to construct a new truck gate complex that will reduce emissions from truck idling.
Offshore wind
Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have been facilitating the development of offshore wind projects. In June 2022, MARAD designated offshore wind vessels as Vessels of National Interest, which makes them eligible for federal financial support. This will help support US shipbuilding of vessels that construct and maintain offshore wind facilities.
Through the Port Infrastructure Development Program, Secretary Buttigieg and MARAD have awarded nearly $200 million combined in 2022 and 2023 to projects that advance offshore wind deployment. Examples:
- In Staten Island, New York, the Arthur Kill Offshore Wind Terminal Project received $48 million to create a 35-foot-deep ship basin to support the adjacent offshore wind staging and assembly facility.
- The Baltimore County Offshore Wind Manufacturing Hub in Maryland received over $47 million to construct a roll-on/roll-off pad, a crane pad, ground improvements, geotechnical work, and steel structures to support components used in offshore wind projects.
- The Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port in Virginia received over $39 million to convert an existing marine terminal and berth to an offshore wind logistics facility.
Air traffic control improvements to cut emissions
Jet fuel usage and carbon emissions can be reduced by more efficiently managing air traffic. For instance, the FAA implemented Optimized Profile Descents (OPDs) at 53 airports in 2021 and 2022 — so now a total of 64 US airports have had OPDs implemented. OPDs allow planes to glide down safely from cruising altitudes and use less fuel than the stair-step procedure for descents. A study at Los Angeles International Airport estimated that OPDs saved about 25 gallons of fuel per flight, on average — on an annual basis, this translated to about 2 million gallons of fuel and about 18,500 metric tons of carbon emissions saved at this one airport alone.
In September 2021, the FAA and NASA announced the completion of research and testing on software that calculates gate pushbacks at busy hub airports so that each plane can roll directly to the runway and take off — which will minimize taxiing and ramp congestion and reduce fuel use. This software was developed by NASA and tested for four years by the FAA. As part of a larger investment in surface management technology through the FAA’s Terminal Flight Data Manager program, the FAA plans to roll out this new capability at 27 hub airports across the country, which will save over 7 million gallons of fuel each year and prevent over 75,000 tons of carbon emissions annually.
The way air traffic control towers are designed can also help to reduce carbon footprints. In April 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and the FAA announced the selection of a sustainable design for new air traffic control towers to be used at municipal and smaller airports. This design will be used to construct an initial set of 31 control towers to replace older towers, with construction potentially starting in 2024. The sustainability features include:
- All-electric building systems
- Materials and products free from chemicals known to pose health risks
- Thermally efficient façade
- High-recycled steel and metal products
- Renewable mass timber when usable
- Ground-source heating and cooling in some environments
Greenhouse gas performance measure
FHWA’s national performance measures help to make transportation decision-making more transparent using metrics that are consistent across all states. In November 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA announced that a new performance measure to track transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions had been finalized. State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) will need to track carbon pollution data and set their own performance targets based on these metrics.
This new measure and targets are meant to help State DOTs and MPOs consistently and transparently monitor their performance and plan transportation investments. But to be clear, there are no penalties for failing to meet these targets.
Transformation
23. Innovation: Launched ARPA-I to fund high-risk, high-reward next-generation transportation technologies; announced up to $435 million in grant awards for 34 University Transportation Centers (UTCs), including the first HBCU to become a national UTC grantee; opened a new state-of-the-art FHWA Pavement Testing Facility; awarded the first $94 million in SMART grants to plan 59 demonstration projects of new technologies to serve local community needs; awarded $52 million in ATTAIN grants to eight states to deploy advanced technologies; launched the Intersection Safety Challenge and selected 15 winning design concepts; gave researchers more flexibility to serve USDOT’s unmet research needs through the new $250 million Open Research Initiative; drafted an ambitious National Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Deployment Plan and opened $40 million to accelerate V2X deployment; established a plan to allow air taxis to safely begin operations by 2028; conducted field testing to inform the development of FAA policies to safely manage the rise in drone air traffic; and established a new Office of Automation Safety at NHTSA to regulate the safety of automated vehicles.
Secretary Buttigieg has led USDOT during an exciting and sometimes daunting period in transportation history in which emerging technologies are developing far more quickly than the US regulatory process was designed to keep up with. And as exciting as these developments are, the Secretary sees the risk of transportation decision-makers getting too absorbed in marveling at futuristic innovations and investing in cool-looking tech that may not effectively serve people’s needs — or may even make some problems worse. He sees USDOT’s role as trying to influence and steer transportation innovation toward a safe, sustainable, equitable, and economically prosperous future:
“Our approach on innovation is we care about it to the extent that it helps us with safety, climate, economic growth, and equity. I think that’s important, because the kinds of people who are drawn to transportation, including me, are liable to geek out on innovation for its own sake. And sometimes we will, and that’s fine. But as a policy matter, the reason all of these things matter, especially in terms of the kinds of innovation that are transforming the transportation space in our time, is that they hold the promise of a dramatically safer transportation system. They hold the promise of a dramatically cleaner set of transportation systems. They hold the promise of delivering a generation of new economic development — both in building the infrastructure and in operating the transportation systems — that is dramatically more equitable and creates wealth on a more equitable basis than what has come before. And of course, by its nature, it can be a huge economic generator.”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, TechChicago Week 2023 (July 10, 2023)
In January 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT released the department’s Research, Development, and Technology (RD&T) Strategic Plan that outlines USDOT’s innovation principles; describes how research work and programs are organized across the department; and identifies research priorities, objectives, and strategies for each of the department’s strategic goals — i.e., safety, economic competitiveness, equity, climate, and transformation.
To advise USDOT’s work related to transportation innovation, Secretary Buttigieg formed a Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee in December 2023. The committee includes 27 members from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives — not only technology experts and researchers, but also community leaders, safety advocates, labor unions, disability rights advocates, etc.
The IIJA includes over $5 billion over five years to support transportation research across USDOT. Below, this section describes how Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT have been deploying these resources and highlights significant innovation developments at USDOT over the past three years.
ARPA-I
In June 2023, Secretary Buttigieg joined Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, at a summit to launch the Advanced Research Projects Agency — Infrastructure (ARPA-I). ARPA-I is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which helped to invent the internet and GPS technology.
ARPA-I will fund high-risk, high-reward next-generation transportation technologies “that we can’t even imagine today,” Secretary Buttigieg said. Ideas that may sound fanciful — like self-healing potholes or bridges that last for 500 years instead of 50 — could someday get developed into real-world technologies through ARPA-I. In January 2024, the Secretary joined a panel discussion at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting that discussed research on self-healing concrete and pavement that can store solar energy and potentially charge electric vehicles while they are driving.
Here is Secretary Buttigieg’s discussion with Dr. Prabhakar at the White House’s ARPA-I Summit:
Upon launching the agency, USDOT issued a Request for Information, inviting the public to submit ideas and input on areas of research for ARPA-I to consider. In January 2024, ARPA-I published a report summarizing the comments that were submitted.
University Transportation Centers (UTCs)
Under the IIJA, USDOT’s University Transportation Center (UTC) program expanded into new areas of research, while also continuing its pre-IIJA research initiatives. In February 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and Dr. Robert Hampshire, USDOT’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, announced up to $435 million in grant awards for 34 UTCs.
For National UTC selections, USDOT chose Clemson University to lead a group focused on cybersecurity; the University of California, Davis to lead a group focused on the environment; Prairie View A&M (TX) University to lead a group focused on infrastructure; University of Texas at Austin to lead a group focused on mobility; and Carnegie Mellon University to lead a group focused on safety.
Nine Regional UTCs and 20 Tier One UTCs were selected to conduct research on reducing congestion, reducing transportation cybersecurity risks, preserving the environment, improving the durability and extending the life of transportation infrastructure, improving the mobility of people and goods, promoting safety, and preserving the existing transportation system.
Prairie View A&M University made history as the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to become a national UTC grantee. Four other HBCUs are lead consortia of UTCs selected for an award, and another five consortia members are Hispanic-Serving Institutions/Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). Overall, a record number of HBCUs, MSIs, and Tribal colleges are participating in the UTC program.
FHWA Pavement Testing Facility
USDOT manages six federal research centers, one of which is FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia. In October 2023, Secretary Buttigieg celebrated the ribbon-cutting of a new Pavement Testing Facility at the center. This new facility uses rapid pavement testing to evaluate the durability of both new and existing pavement materials. It includes 11 testing lanes equipped with moisture sensors, lateral and vertical pressure cells, and soil compression gauges. As a former mayor, the Secretary has a particular affection for this area of research. “Pavement durability is one of my love languages,” he said. As he once explained on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “The battle of ‘mayors versus snow’ is second only to the battle of ‘mayors versus potholes’ in the great predator-prey relationships in local government.”
Open Research Initiative
To help address USDOT’s unmet research needs, researchers in the public and private sectors can now submit unsolicited research proposals to USDOT through the new Open Research Initiative, which has been authorized $250 million over five years by the IIJA.
SMART grants
The IIJA authorized $500 million over five years for a new Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) discretionary grant program, which awards funding to state and local governments to do demonstration projects that test the effectiveness of new technologies in serving community needs. In March 2023, Secretary Buttigieg awarded the first phase of $94 million for 59 planning and prototyping grants across 33 states to demonstrate eight technology domains:
Examples of demonstration projects that will be planned and prototyped using these grants:
- Detroit, Michigan received $2 million for a project to use sensors and artificial intelligence software to predict and prevent traffic crashes in the city.
- Phoenix, Arizona received $1.9 million for a project to install sensors to detect cyclists and pedestrians at crosswalks to activate HAWK signals along Phoenix’s Grand Canal.
- The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in California received $1.7 million for a project to upgrade traffic signals to give priority to city buses.
- Alaska received $1.9 million for a project to use drone technology to conduct infrastructure inspections and gather situational awareness data.
- Utah received $1.8 million to prototype a connected intersection corridor to advance vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployment.
Projects selected in the first phase of the SMART program will be eligible for the second phase of the program, which will fund the implementation of the demonstration project. The goal of the program is to test many small-scale prototypes, see what works and what doesn’t, and then scale up the solutions that prove to be most promising.
ATTAIN program
The Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) program funds the deployment of advanced technologies by state and local governments and academic researchers. This program existed before the Biden administration, but it has been significantly revised to include more types of projects, allow smaller communities to participate, reduce the matching share that communities must contribute, and dedicate at least 20% of the funding to rural communities. The IIJA authorized $300 million for this program over five years.
In May 2023, Secretary Buttigieg and FHWA awarded $52 million of ATTAIN grants to eight states. Examples:
- Minnesota received over $9 million to expand the current MARTI pilot, a free on-demand automated micro-transit service in Grand Rapids, to make transit services more reliable, convenient and accessible in rural communities, including for wheelchair users.
- Mohave County in Arizona received $1 million to deploy 50 vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) traffic control sign systems throughout rural areas targeted to high-speed highway segments and intersection approaches to improve safety.
- Maryland received nearly $12 million to deploy new technologies and traffic sensors for traffic prediction, signal timing, curve warning, and other messaging to improve safety and mobility along 113 miles of US Route 50.
Intersection Safety Challenge
USDOT launched an Intersection Safety Challenge, which is a multi-phase challenge that started with a prize competition for design concepts that improve the safety of intersections for vulnerable road users (e.g., pedestrians, cyclists) and vehicles. In January 2024, USDOT announced 15 prize winners out of 120 submissions. These 15 winning teams each received a $100,000 prize and were invited to participate in the next phase of the program. In the second phase, Challenge participants will “…develop, train, and improve algorithms for the detection, localization, and classification of vulnerable road users and vehicles using USDOT-supplied sensor data collected at a controlled test roadway intersection.”
Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications
As discussed in the “Roadway safety” section, in January 2022, Secretary Buttigieg released USDOT’s first-ever National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) that pursues a Vision Zero goal to eliminate US roadway deaths. The NRSS includes a wide range of strategies to prevent crashes and fatalities — including the development and use of advanced technologies.
USDOT has put particular focus on facilitating the deployment of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology, which enables vehicles to communicate with each other, with vulnerable road users, and with infrastructure. This capability has many potential use cases that promote safety. For example, if there’s a hazard on the road that might cause vehicles to brake or swerve suddenly, an alert can be sent to vehicles further down the road to gradually slow down to avoid making abrupt moves. If a driver is seeking to make a left turn, the vehicle can warn them if it is not safe. The technology could improve drivers’ awareness of pedestrians and cyclists and other vehicles. If implemented carefully, the integration of V2X communication, automated vehicle systems, and roadside sensors could potentially lead to much safer roadways.
In August 2022, USDOT hosted its first V2X Summit to hear from stakeholders about the challenges they are facing with V2X deployment. And since then, USDOT has ramped up its efforts to support deployment. USDOT hosted a second summit in April 2023 to provide a progress update and to gather input from stakeholders to advise the department in developing a national V2X deployment plan. And then in October 2023, USDOT held a third summit where it unveiled a draft of its National V2X Deployment Plan, and summit participants shared feedback on the draft.
USDOT made this video about the 3rd V2X Summit, highlighting some of the participants’ reactions to the proposed plan:
At the summit, FHWA also announced the availability of $40 million in grants to accelerate V2X deployment with a focus on preventing roadway deaths.
Other actions that USDOT has taken in recent years:
- USDOT has been working with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to expedite the granting of waivers to permit the immediate deployment of V2X technology. As of September 30, 2023, a total of 31 waiver requests had been granted.
- USDOT has been providing technical assistance to V2X deployers. The department offers education and toolkits on its Connected Vehicle Deployer Resources portal. USDOT’s Technical Assistance and Equipment Loan lets deployers borrow V2X equipment for testing purposes. USDOT also helps deployers request FCC waivers.
- USDOT has invested $61.5 million in V2X technology research and deployment through the FHWA Turner Fairbank Highway Research Program over the last five years, with $12.5 million in follow-on research projects budgeted for FY 2024.
- Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT awarded seven SMART and four ATTAIN grants that support V2X deployment.
Advanced aviation
The FAA’s work on advanced aviation involves regulating and preparing for a future of advanced air mobility (aka, air taxis) and unmanned aircraft systems (aka, drones).
Air taxis — aircraft that use electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology and can fly at low-altitude in urban environments — have gained intense public interest, and several companies have gotten FAA approval to test these aircraft. This technology is effectively today’s version of a “flying car”. The FAA has been updating its regulations to ensure that this technology is deployed safely. In June 2023, the FAA proposed comprehensive training and pilot certification rules for eVTOL aircraft. According to the FAA, these new rules are needed because these aircraft have unique systems that take off and land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane. In July 2023, the FAA released an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Implementation Plan, which outlines steps and processes that the FAA will take to enable air taxis to begin operations by 2028. Under this plan, in the near-term, air taxi flights will begin at a low rate and use existing air traffic control protocols and infrastructure.
Drones are increasingly used to inspect infrastructure assets like powerlines, pipelines, and aqueducts, and companies have started to deliver packages using drones on a small scale. In April 2021, new FAA rules took effect to identify drones in flight and the location of their control stations, reducing the risk of them interfering with other aircraft or posing a risk to people and property on the ground. Under these rules, information about drones is shared with national security and law enforcement agencies to protect public safety. The new rules also allow operators of small drones to fly over people and at night under certain conditions. In late 2021 and in 2022, in close coordination with the FAA, the first drone delivery services began commercial operation in the United States at a few limited locations — these services include Amazon Prime Air, Alphabet’s Wing, and Zipline (a partner of Walmart). The FAA’s top priority is maintaining the safety of the National Airspace System, so these drone delivery services currently have many restrictions on their operations, especially for flights that are beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) of an observer.
To help update and validate FAA standards for managing drone traffic for BVLOS operations (and other operations), the FAA conducted extensive field testing between July 2022 and April 2023. The field test report was published in November 2023. This testing will help inform updates to FAA policies to enable drones to perform more operations without compromising safety.
The FAA produced this video to explain the field test:
Automated driving systems
Many vehicles on the market today have advanced driver assistance systems. But these are not “self-driving cars” — drivers must pay attention to the road at all times. There is still a long way to go before fully automated vehicles are commercially available. To ensure that vehicle technology moves toward automation in a safe manner, in 2023, NHTSA established the Office of Automation Safety to focus on automated driving systems (ADS) and other advanced vehicle technologies. This office is responsible for developing new safety standards, evaluating and processing petitions, managing exemptions, and overseeing safety demonstrations.
USDOT funds research projects to support the safe development of automated driving technology. In December 2023, USDOT announced a $25 million funding opportunity through its Rural Autonomous Vehicle Research Program. Two grants will be awarded to universities to conduct research and to address the challenges of bringing the benefits of responsible integration of automated vehicles to rural and Tribal communities.
Happy Work Anniversary!
Hopefully this article has given you a sense of the massive scope and transformative nature of the work that Secretary Buttigieg and the 55,000 employees at USDOT have been doing for three years — and also the personal ways that public service can make everyday life better in all kinds of communities.
And as part of this work, the Secretary has been crisscrossing the country, visiting at least 145 different communities across 44 states and the District of Columbia — meeting Americans where they are, listening to their needs and ideas, and delivering much-needed federal investments to help communities turn their aspirations into a reality. He has also been coordinating with America’s partners around the world on matters related to global supply chains, international travel, and efforts to curb carbon pollution from transportation, representing the United States at international meetings in 9 countries.
“So after 30 or 40 years of disinvestment from the federal government in local infrastructure needs, I’m here to tell you, yes, we are here from the federal government and yes, we are here to help.”
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Bloomberg CityLab 2023 (October 24, 2023)
Thank you to Secretary Buttigieg and USDOT for three incredibly productive years of public service together.
