Time’s up! What wins has Biden notched and what has he left incomplete on transportation?
In November 2020, we despatched the incoming Biden administration a memo outlining speedy and longer-term actions we urged the brand new president to provoke. 4 years later, whereas modest progress has been made on some, it’s onerous to say that the transportation system or an important outcomes by which we must always consider it are considerably higher or completely different than 4 years in the past.
Because the Biden administration involves an in depth, it’s time to take inventory of what President Biden and his group completed. (You possibly can learn our recaps of the Biden administration’s progress after their first, second, and third years.) There are actually some tangible wins and progress to level to, like new packages targeted on local weather change and electrification, USDOT advancing smarter tasks with their discretionary packages in comparison with the earlier 4 years, and a few optimistic administrative modifications. There was additionally an enormous infrastructure invoice that did have some notable however small wins, although all of them got here alongside the IIJA’s historic quantity of funding. General, the established order on transportation that was in place when the Biden administration arrived is essentially unchanged, although it is much better funded.
Earlier than we get into the great and the unfinished, let’s have a look at the desk of particular requests we made in November 2020.
| Challenge space | Division | Standing | Motion | Remaining verdict element |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry to federal funds | USDOT | X | Simplify purposes for discretionary grant packages (just like the Higher Using Investments to Leverage Growth (BUILD) program) by creating an internet software and benefit-cost evaluation (BCA) course of in order that small, rural and limited-capacity companies can extra simply entry federal funds. | |
| Local weather change | USDOT | Half full | We solely measure what we treasure. Re-establish the greenhouse gasoline (GHG) efficiency measure for transportation deserted by the final administration, observe this up with annual state GHG rankings, and supply steerage for projecting GHG emissions on the mission degree. | USDOT did ultimately do that, although slowly and they didn’t defend it. They did not measure GHG per state and rank them. |
| Local weather change | USDOT | Accomplished | Repeal the June 29, 2018, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Expensive Colleague to public transit companies relating to the Capital Funding Grant program, particularly the therapy of federal loans as not a part of the native match, inclusion of a geographic range think about grant awards, and inspiring a low federal price share. | |
| Local weather change | USDOT | X | Enable rural transit techniques to obtain funding from the Low and No Emission bus program. | They made no modifications to this system, although some state DOTs stepped in to assist rural techniques of their states |
| Fairness | USDOT | Accomplished | Establish infrastructure that creates boundaries to mobility (reminiscent of highways or rail beds that divide a group). Then prioritize sources to handle these boundaries and the disparities they create (e.g., by eradicating infrastructure boundaries or creating new connectivity). | Three rounds of Reconnecting Communities grant awards have been issued, plus wraparound help from the Reconnecting Communities Institute and Thriving Communities Program. |
| Passenger rail | White Home, USDOT | Restricted, sluggish progress | Appoint new members to the Amtrak Board of Administrators and assess the stability of the board with respect to assist for and expertise with very important lengthy distance, state-supported, and Northeast Hall routes, in addition to civic and elected leaders from native communities really served by the prevailing community. | The 4 years practically handed with no full board. Nominations have been made very late (together with in the previous few months of time period) with little change to the overrepresentation of the northeast hall |
| Security | USDOT | Restricted progress | Revise the New Automobile Evaluation Program to think about and prioritize the chance that more and more bigger car designs pose to pedestrians and cyclists and the motive force’s capacity to see pedestrians (significantly youngsters and other people utilizing wheelchairs and different assistive units). | A brand new rule was proposed and finalized by NHTSA that can require some drive help tech together with automated emergency braking for pedestrians, although it failed to handle the hazard of rising automobile measurement. And whereas pedestrian crashworthiness is lastly included within the 5-star ranking system, a NACTO spokesperson notes that „A automobile might fail the pedestrian crash-worthiness take a look at and nonetheless obtain 5 stars.“ |
| Security | USDOT | Replace launched | Reopen the remark interval on the handbook of road engineering requirements (the Guide on Uniform Site visitors Management Units or MUTCD) utilized by transportation companies to design streets, and reframe and rewrite it to take away requirements and steerage that result in streets which might be hostile to or harmful for these exterior of a automobile. | Modest modifications have been made on this replace, with the chance for extra periodic updates going ahead as a dwelling doc. We joined a letter with NACTO outlining wanted modifications (hyperlink) |
| Technical steerage | White Home, HUD, USDOT, GSA | X | Re-activate the Location Affordability Portal created by DOT and HUD and set up a location effectivity and equitable growth scoring standards to be utilized to selections involving location of recent federal amenities, significantly people who serve the general public. | No motion taken as housing costs skyrocketed |
| Guarantee extra correct visitors and emissions modeling | USDOT | X | Require the measurement of induced demand and a assessment of the accuracy of present journey demand fashions by evaluating previous projections with precise outcomes, reporting their findings, and updating the fashions when there are discrepancies. | No tangible or binding modifications made |
| Substitute worth of time steerage with extra equitable, multimodal strategy | USDOT | X | Assist states and metro areas precisely calculate the good thing about their tasks by updating the worth of time steerage and its deal with automobile velocity with consideration of precise projected time financial savings for all individuals, whether or not they journey by automobile or use different modes of journey. |
In fact, our hope was that many of those requests might be tackled within the first hundred days or over the primary yr. We have been hoping to have the ability to verify issues off this listing and add extra bold duties for the intervening years as time glided by. However as you may see, 4 years later, a lot of the preliminary listing is both undone or incomplete.
Past this listing, it’s onerous to say that an important measurable outcomes for transportation general—security, state of restore, emissions, entry to locations, delay or congestion—are considerably higher right now than 4 years in the past or are on observe to enhance considerably in one other 4 or eight years, even after the IIJA’s $643 billion is totally exhausted. The IIJA general is advancing tasks that can improve emissions. Lots of the new grant packages might both go dormant, be defunded by Congress, or be utilized by Trump’s USDOT to fund radically completely different sorts of tasks—like when President Obama turned grant packages like TIGER over to the Trump admin eight years in the past.
Whereas Congress writes the legal guidelines that decide the place most transportation {dollars} go, USDOT didn’t take full benefit of the instruments at its disposal to make the form of binding, institutional, structural modifications that can transfer the needle and might’t be simply undone by a future administration.
The great:
Greenhouse gasoline rule
Resurrected from the Obama administration, a measure to evaluate the greenhouse gases coming from transportation tasks was launched in 2022 and finalized in 2023 (solely to be in the end overturned after challenges within the courts and Congress). Whereas the administration actually deserves credit score for this try, they did slow-walk the event and implementation of the rule primarily as a consequence of worry that the opposition would block it versus swiftly creating and implementing this system and navigating opposition alongside the best way.
Small steps for security
Steps have been taken to raise the dialog on roadway security as a nationwide disaster and the necessity to essentially change the trajectory of the US. This included the event of a Nationwide Roadway Security Technique, an overhaul of the Guide of Uniform Site visitors Management Units, and new automobile security guidelines aimed toward addressing the security of all customers of our streets. Nonetheless, these modifications are modest and unlikely to be sufficient to beat the entrenched auto-dominated tradition.
Necessary although restricted steps on reconnecting communities
One of many largest highlights of the IIJA was the brand new Reconnecting Communities program, which funds tasks that search to restore previous harm from infrastructure tasks, reminiscent of divisive highways. Whereas USDOT can solely select from the tasks that do apply, it’s truthful to say that their observe document has been combined at greatest. As America Walks famous in 2024, greater than $1 billion of the 2024 awards goes towards a) accommodating individuals whereas preserving damaging roads or b) mitigating among the harm of actively increasing highways. Making an attempt to mitigate model new harm to Portland from increasing Interstate 5 just isn’t what this small program targeted on repairing previous harm ought to be for. USDOT ought to prioritize extra inspirational, best-in-class examples for different states and cities to see what’s potential, like Syracuse eradicating I-81 and changing it with a road grid.
Ample choices for technical help
The administration did create quite a few enhanced technical assist choices, such because the Thriving Communities program, which helps native communities and stakeholders entry and navigate federal funding packages, and the (long-delayed) Reconnecting Communities Institute, designed to assist communities plan and advance Reconnecting Communities tasks. These new packages (and others like them) have been a wise approach to assist communities navigate the ocean of recent aggressive grant packages created in IIJA.
Incomplete at greatest, unhealthy at worst
The IIJA will improve emissions general and fail to maneuver the needle on different measurable outcomes. It shouldn’t be considered as a serious accomplishment.
The Biden administration shall be leaving workplace persevering with to hail the 2021 infrastructure legislation (IIJA) as “as soon as in a era,” “climate-friendly” laws that can rework the established order on transportation. Sadly, each the IIJA as written and the Biden administration’s implementation of it have been a boulevard of damaged desires. It was at all times unwise for this administration to promote the IIJA’s large local weather, fairness, or state of restore advantages when these advantages should be delivered by states that don’t share the administration’s targets or most popular outcomes.
Fairness funding outcomes muddled
Fairness was a core element for the Biden administration, which launched the Justice40 government order aimed toward making certain 40 p.c of federal funds flowed to and benefited traditionally marginalized communities. Nonetheless, it has but to be seen whether or not this coverage initiative actually focused advantages in direction of marginalized communities or simply directed funding to areas and tasks that simply occur to even have a notable marginalized inhabitants. The way forward for such initiatives is unsure due each to the challenges they’ve had in implementing Justice40 throughout their time and the truth that Justice 40 could be simply undone by future government orders.
All-in on electrification solely
The Biden administration put all their eggs within the single basket of electrification to sort out transportation emissions. The issues in that technique have gotten extra apparent by the day, with President Trump and Speaker Johnson signaling their intent to claw again cash for brand new charging infrastructure and repeal mandates requiring extra electrical automobiles sooner or later. Transportation electrification is essential for decarbonizing transportation, nevertheless it’s just one piece of the puzzle. The administration’s emphasis on local weather change was far out of sync with the truth of how IIJA funding was getting used: many states utilizing their system funds to develop highways and spur extra automobile miles traveled (VMT). Even discretionary grants that USDOT had management over have been additionally nonetheless contributing to extra VMT. In the meantime, underneath the Nationwide Electrical Automobile Infrastructure (NEVI) program, onerous necessities directed funds towards highway-oriented growth and away from communities, serving to to undercut the financial growth advantages and potential rural assist for a program nearly actually to be focused for cuts or elimination by President Trump.
Failure to modernize road design tips
After greater than a decade of ready for a promised replace, the discharge of the newest version of the Guide of Uniform Site visitors Management Units promised to shake up roadway design requirements. However as we famous upon launch, the cautious and general incremental replace “falls wanting the form of main paradigm shift required to guard susceptible customers at a time when the US leads the developed world in roadway fatalities.” Future updates should still occur, however this administration did not benefit from the potential of long-term, structural modifications like these, maybe not greedy the long-term impacts.
No modifications to visitors fashions and measures
Whereas Congress units the coverage and states have monumental flexibility for spending transportation {dollars}, USDOT and FHWA decide what fashions and measures states can use in conceiving and advancing new roadway tasks. On day one, we hoped that USDOT would make strikes to require the measurement of “induced demand” and use their bully pulpit to kickstart a protracted overdue dialog concerning the inaccuracies of present visitors fashions, maybe beginning to examine previous projections with precise outcomes. USDOT might have delivered steerage on measuring time financial savings advantages, emissions reductions, and transit entry to make sure that tasks meant to attain these targets are set as much as succeed. Sadly, there was no actual motion on the small however highly effective modifications that may outlast this administration.
Amtrak oversight and staffing
Appointing a full Amtrak board that’s consultant of the individuals the passenger rail system serves would have been a notable, simple win for the administration. However quite puzzlingly, “Amtrak Joe” took a yr to appoint anybody to the board. The administration and Congress have solely lately lastly stuffed all board slots, however as composed, it nonetheless doesn’t totally symbolize the total community that Amtrak serves. The general lack of oversight has led to declining service reliability and buyer satisfaction, additional hurting Amtrak’s popularity with the general public and Congress. Additional, at a time when there’s historic funding for passenger rail, the funding just isn’t being spent as a consequence of sluggish motion in this system and a failure to get ample workers in place on the Federal Railroad Administration rapidly after the IIJA’s passage to create and implement these new packages.
Closing reflections
The query for an incoming administration hoping to have an effect shouldn’t simply be “How can we steer the cash we management towards good tasks?” however as an alternative, “What modifications can we institutionalize to disrupt the established order and produce higher outcomes for years to return after we’re gone?” Modest progress has undoubtedly been made throughout Biden’s time in workplace, however a lot of it’s of the primary selection—short-term and probably undone by any future administration. This administration additionally spent an inordinate period of time soliciting suggestions and analysis earlier than taking any motion on rulemakings that assist interpret legal guidelines just like the IIJA—and, in lots of circumstances, by no means acted on the feedback in any respect. And if the price of creating priceless however small new climate-focused packages (a la the IIJA) is doubling the dimensions of the clean verify packages which might be damaging the local weather, that’s a nasty deal for everybody besides concrete and asphalt contractors.
For the incoming Trump administration, we’re engaged on a to-do listing for his or her first 100 days and the next years to scale back losing restricted sources and be sure that each greenback works in direction of advancing security, financial alternatives, and higher state of restore.
