T4America Blog

News, press releases and other updates

Posts Tagged "President Biden"

Three years in, what can Biden still accomplish for transportation?

Joe Biden sits ponderously at his desk, pen in hand.

In November 2020, we sent the incoming Biden administration a memo outlining executive actions and long-term legislation we urged the new president to initiate. After three full years in office, modest progress has been made—but there’s still a long way to go.

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Reconnecting Communities awards advance needed change

press release

This morning, the Biden administration announced the first awards for the Reconnecting Communities Program. $185 million will fund 45 projects designed to address harms caused by divisive infrastructure. In response, T4A director Beth Osborne released the following statement.

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Doing justice to Justice40

A lightrail stop in Phoenix, AZ.

USDOT has finally added more substance to their plan to implement the Biden administration’s Justice40 Initiative. Despite some questions about how many programs can meet Biden’s goal of spending 40 percent on disadvantaged communities, the projects and programs they’ve moved toward Justice40 suggest a real effort to improve equity.

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Two years in and a changed Congress—How does Biden stack up and move forward on transportation?

The sunsetting 117th Congress passed historic investments in infrastructure, via the 2021 infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act. In parallel, the Biden Administration has rolled up its sleeves to implement those infrastructure investments with an eye towards safety, repair, and equity. Now with the incoming and divided 118th Congress, the Biden team is running out of time to make inroads on advancing its goals.

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Congressional appropriations proposals miss the mark

The appropriations process for 2023 determines funding levels for key infrastructure projects set up under the new infrastructure law. Congress’s proposals and the president’s budget aren’t lining up with the administration’s stated goals to improve safety, reduce emissions, and expand the national rail network.

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Here’s what you need to know about the Inflation Reduction Act

A Black man crosses a street without a crosswalk carrying grocery bags

The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a budget reconciliation package that includes some portions of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. This is the largest climate investment in U.S. history, and programs in it will help Americans save money and stay safe on our streets. Here’s what you need to know as the bill awaits a House vote (scheduled for 8/12).

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One year in, how is the Biden team really doing on transportation?

President Biden wears a mask as he signs executive orders

A year in, the Biden administration helped pass historic investments in infrastructure and spoke out about safety, repair, and equity, but a lot of potential improvements have been left on the table.  Congress passes the laws but the administration has to implement them. Here’s our update on their progress and the opportunities still left on the table for them to advance their stated goals. 

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The infrastructure bill is finished—what you need to know

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill is notable both for including Congress’ most significant effort to address climate change, and its general failure to make fundamental changes to a transportation program that’s responsible for massive increases in transportation emissions, worsening state of repair, unequal access to jobs, and increasing numbers of people killed on our roadways.

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T4America statement on the passage of the 2021 infrastructure deal

press release

After Congress’ final passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aka “the infrastructure deal” on Friday, November 5, Transportation for America Director Beth Osborne offered this statement:

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