Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Underscores Importance of Equity in Transportation, Addresses Supply Chain Issues During TRB Annual Meeting 2022
Feature Story
By Joshua Blatt
Last update January 14, 2022
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg put a spotlight on equity during his keynote speech at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting on Wednesday, aligning with the theme of this year’s conference, Innovating an Equitable, Resilient, Sustainable, and Safe Transportation System.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law this past November, contains significant investments in transportation, from roads and bridges to transit, rail, and electric vehicle infrastructure. Buttigieg emphasized that these funds would be put to work tackling the intertwined issues of climate, equity, jobs, resiliency, and safety.
The secretary acknowledged the role that transportation has had in the history of equity and inequity in America, and noted that “every transportation decision is inherently, in many ways, a decision about equity.” Buttigieg discussed the opportunities researchers have to shape transportation policy as a tool to build fairness and equity in society, the billion dollars the administration will use to help reconnect communities split by past transportation decisions, USDOT putting equity into their criteria for grants, and other ways new transportation investments can positively impact the daily lives of Americans.
This focus on transportation’s role in people’s lives carried over to discussion of supply chains, a topic of widespread concern in recent months. The administration is pursuing a range of solutions for dealing with the supply chain crisis in the short term and making generational infrastructure investments for the long term. However, Buttigieg stressed the human element of supply chains and the importance of improving working conditions and compensation for truckers and other essential workers, and said, “If you got a package today, thank a trucker.”
Secretary Buttigieg hinted at the upcoming release of the first ever National Roadway Safety Strategy, which aims to use a safe systems approach to curtail fatalities from traffic crashes. Presently, these crashes cause over 3,000 deaths per month in the United States.
“We must confront the fact that these tragic deaths are not inevitable, they are preventable,” said Buttigieg.
