"This huge law that we've passed in 2021 - which Joe Biden said was the biggest law for public transit ever and was this enormous investment in inner city rail - ultimately panned out to have very minimal effects. There has been some increase in highway construction. But when it comes to transit investment, unfortunately the country is going in the wrong direction."
"One is that construction costs have just gone up a ton, so you get a lot less for your dollar. Second, states and localities have essentially [replaced] their own funding for projects with federal dollars - so that the ultimate end amount that's being spent on projects is the same or lower."
Transportation planner Yonah Freemark discusses the current state of transit in the United States and globally, examining the long-term impacts of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021. Despite President Biden's claims that it represented the biggest investment in public transit, the law has yielded disappointing results. While some highway construction has increased, transit investment has declined, contrary to legislative intentions and federal projections. Rising construction costs reduce purchasing power, and states and localities have substituted federal funding for their own contributions, resulting in unchanged or decreased total project spending. These factors explain the disconnect between the law's promised benefits and actual outcomes.
#bipartisan-infrastructure-law #public-transit-investment #federal-transportation-spending #transit-oriented-development #infrastructure-policy
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