Last week, President Biden offered praise for transportation workers and highlighted the historic infrastructure investment taking place right now in a proclamation published to the Federal Register. This proclamation was officially issued during National Transportation Week. Below is an excerpt:
To have the world’s strongest military and leading economy, the United States must have the world’s best transportation system. And to achieve that, we must prepare and equip the world’s best workforce to build it. Today and this week, we celebrate the American workers who build our infrastructure, power our economy, bolster our national security, and are the backbone of this Nation. We also recommit to investing in our Nation’s infrastructure and strengthening critical supply chains.
I signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—a once-in-a-generation investment in rebuilding America and putting Americans across the country to work doing it. It is the most significant investment in our infrastructure since President Eisenhower. To date, we have already funded more than 25,000 projects—upgrading roads, bridges, and tunnels from California to Ohio to New York; renovating major airports from Massachusetts to Georgia to Oregon; and upgrading our rail infrastructure on the Northeast Corridor, bringing world-class rail to new corners of the country. We are also paving new highways so trucks filled with goods can get to their destinations faster and deepening channels so ships can move in and out of harbors more efficiently.
Additionally, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the largest investment in public transit in the history of our country. It improves subways and commuter rail in some of the busiest travel corridors in America, easing traffic congestion and making it easier for people to get where they need to go. Thanks to this law, we will replace thousands of diesel school buses with electric buses so our kids do not have to inhale diesel exhaust fumes, which can make them sick. And we are helping local governments retrofit subway stations so people who need an elevator or ramp can reliably access our rail systems. All told, these actions will improve transit for millions of Americans while reducing emissions.
Last Friday, May 19, was National Transportation Defense Day, and last week, May 14-20, was National Transportation Week. Those designations date back to Congressional Acts in 1957 and 1962 respectively.
