DOT Achievements Summary: 2021-2025

Thanks to Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, America’s transportation systems are in better shape than they were four years ago, and the foundation has been laid for major progress in the coming years on all modes of travel and our supply chains.

After passage of the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, the Department stood up more than 40 new programs that allowed for the tens of thousands of projects now taking shape in communities across America – projects that are fueling the growth of good-paying skilled trade jobs, spurring long-needed modernization in communities of all sizes, including rural and Tribal regions, and giving states and cities the ability to carry out projects that had been on the backburner for years or even decades due to a lack of funding. Many of the projects – like replacing a major bridge, launching a new passenger rail line, eliminating a rail crossing in the middle of town, or adding frequency to a bus route – will be coming online in the years to come as part of our Infrastructure Decade.

During his tenure, Secretary Buttigieg also oversaw the largest expansion of airline passenger rights and accessibility in a generation. At the same time, flight cancellations dropped and air traffic controller hiring went up. Secretary Buttigieg also led the Department in adopting new rail safety regulations after the Norfolk Southern derailment in 2023, and he challenged Congress and industry to do even more to improve freight rail safety. He also helped lead the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to unsnarl supply chains amid the pandemic-fueled disruptions and make them more resilient and efficient for the long-term, and, after declaring the number of deaths on our roads a crisis and announcing a national strategy in 2022, Secretary Buttigieg oversaw two and half years of declining roadway deaths and the adoption of new rules to make safety technology on new vehicles standard, not a costly add-on.

Secretary Buttigieg was in charge of the Department’s response to the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the I-95 fire and rebuild in Philadelphia, among other emergencies. He also worked with international partners to resolve global supply chain issues and advance important safety and climate goals in aviation and shipping.

Over the last four years, Secretary Buttigieg traveled to all 50 states, testified before Congress 17 times, and selected more than 5,800 grants to help communities of all sizes – an average of 121 new project selections every month.

THREE YEARS OF THE HISTORIC BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW

In just three years, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $591 billion for more than 72,000 projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law across the country. To date, more than 22,000 projects that received USDOT funding are already completed or well on their way, and more than $247 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has been obligated, accounting for more than 70% of all USDOT Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding awarded through the end of Fiscal Year 2024.

Rebuilding Roads and Bridges: 207,000+ miles of roadway are being repaired or improved from coast to coast, and 12,300+ projects to build, repair, or modernize America’s bridges are moving forward, including 18 of the country’s most economically significant bridges .
Strengthening Supply Chains: 1,060+ port and waterway projects have been announced by USDOT, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen supply chain reliability, speed up the movement of goods, reduce the costs of everyday items, and lower carbon emissions.
Modernizing Air Travel: To accommodate record air travel demand in the U.S., 1,500+ airports are modernizing terminals, expanding operations, increasing efficiency, or improving their runway infrastructure.
Expanding Access to Public Transit: Projects to build more than 4,600 buses in American factories have been announced.
Investing in Passenger and Freight Rail: More than 445 rail projects nationwide have been announced, including those that will modernize and expand America’s rail networks, deliver the first high-speed rail systems in our nation’s history, replace aging infrastructure on the busiest rail corridor in the Northeast, make freight rail safer, eliminate, improve, or study 1,400+ highway-rail crossings in local communities, and lay the groundwork for new rail corridors in every region of the country.
Improving Roadway Safety: 1,600+ communities in all 50 states have funding to improve roadway safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Addressing road design is one of the five pillars of USDOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy that Secretary Buttigieg launched in January 2022. The last two and a half years have seen steady declines in roadway deaths in the U.S., reversing a spike that began several years prior.
Investing in Tribal Nations: 695+ transportation projects have been announced across 221 Tribal Nations. Tribal infrastructure has historically experienced some of the most disparate funding gaps.

Project Delivery and Reducing Red Tape: To accelerate the construction of infrastructure projects and reduce the burden on grantees, USDOT improved technical assistance to communities and created a common application for Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs), including for the Multimodal Discretionary Grant Program, which allows applicants to submit one application for consideration under the billions of dollars available for complex projects through the Mega, INFRA, and Rural grant programs. USDOT adopted phased funding agreements to allow project sponsors to receive money faster to get projects moving; expanded the use of categorical exclusions – the fastest type of environmental review; and launched a challenge to modernize NEPA.

Shortening permitting timelines: A 2020 CEQ report showed that USDOT’s average completion time for Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) between 2010 and 2018 was just under seven years. In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created a new “major project” designation that included deadlines and schedule accountability requirements for certain projects. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, the current average of NEPA timelines for the 20 major BIL project EISs initiated since the law’s passage is 2.5 years. USDOT will continue to build on successful NEPA streamlining tools, including resource agency liaison programs, new categorical exclusions, programmatic agreements for streamlined reviews, and ensuring timely and effective interagency coordination across the Federal Government.

America’s infrastructure should be made with American-made materials, by American workers. Under Secretary Buttigieg, the U.S. Department of Transportation has played a key role in ensuring this happens. Actions include:

Enforcing Buy America: USDOT proposed rules to end longstanding Buy America waivers for manufactured products in federal-aid highway projects. This policy supports the Administration’s commitment to create good-paying jobs and boost domestic manufacturing.
Spurring Growth in Clean Energy Manufacturing: Since 2021, companies announced more than $270 billion in investments in American clean energy and EV manufacturing, creating new U.S. manufacturing jobs and helping communities that, once left behind, are making a comeback. Over the same time period, at least 40 EV charger factories in the United States have been announced or opened, representing at least half a billion dollars of investment in the American charging network, while Tesla, eligible for federal funding, opened a portion of its Supercharger network to non-Tesla EVs.
Securing Sick Leave for Rail Workers: Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, rail labor and the rail industry made tremendous progress expanding access to paid sick leave. Since the end of 2022, the number of Class I freight railroad employees who have access to paid sick days increased from five percent to more than 90 percent.
Investing in Transit Employees: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a $5 million award to support and build America’s transit workforce. The Transportation Learning Center will help address the transit workforce shortage by providing resources to reskill and upskill the workforce at a time when transit agencies are adopting new technologies.
Creating American Shipyard Jobs: The Maritime Administration (MARAD) worked with the Philadelphia Shipyard to deliver five U.S.-built ships to train the next generation of mariners. Building the vessels in the U.S. has created more than 1,450 shipyard jobs during construction in Philadelphia, strengthening the U.S. shipbuilding, repair, and manufacturing industries.
Creating Pathways for Careers in Transportation: USDOT announced $435 million in grants to support University Transportation Centers helping the next generation of transportation professionals make our roads, bridges, rail, waterways, and airspace safer and more efficient. Grant awardees included a record number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), minority-serving institutions, and Tribal colleges.

STRENGTHENING CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR AIR TRAVELERS

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, many wondered if the airline industry would survive. Thanks to decisive action by the Biden-Harris Administration, it has not only survived but grown.

Despite unprecedented levels of air travel, flight cancellation rates for both 2023 and 2024 were just 1.2 percent – the lowest rate in more than a decade. At the same time, airfares are down below pre-pandemic prices. Secretary Buttigieg continued to call on airlines to improve their customer service commitments and advanced policies and regulations to improve air travel for everyone.

Getting Money Back in People’s Pockets: In response to a surge of consumer complaints, USDOT investigated more than 20 airlines for extreme refund delays and ensured they issued nearly $4 billion in required refunds, including more than $600 million owed to passengers affected by the Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown in 2022.
Ending Hidden Junk Fees: Secretary Buttigieg announced a final rule to require airlines to disclose extra fees for basic services upfront – like change fees and baggage fees – so consumers can better understand the true cost of their travel when shopping for airfare. The rule also bans “bait-and-switch” advertising tactics and requires airlines to clearly tell passengers upfront that a seat is included with the cost of their ticket, and they do not need to pay extra. Airlines have challenged this rule in court, and the court put a temporary hold on implementation of the rule. The Department will continue to defend this rule and noted that nothing in the court’s decision prevented airlines from voluntarily complying with this common-sense rule. If implemented, this rule is expected to save consumers more than $500 million annually.
Making Refunds Automatic: USDOT created a new rule to require airlines to provide automatic cash refunds to passengers when 1) their flight is cancelled or significantly changed and they do not want to be rebooked, 2) when their baggage is significantly delayed, or 3) when extra services that they paid for – like Wi-Fi – are not provided. This rule was strengthened by the FAA Reauthorization Law.
Launching the Airline Customer Service Dashboard: Secretary Buttigieg released a set of online dashboards that provide air travelers information on airlines’ commitments to families flying with young children and customers experiencing significant flight disruptions due to circumstances within the airline’s control. This transparency tool resulted in all 10 of the largest U.S. airlines improving their customer service commitments.
Investigating Airline Rewards Programs: USDOT launched its first ever inquiry into the four largest U.S. airlines’ rewards programs aimed at protecting rewards and benefits earned by air travelers. The review continues to examine the fairness, transparency, predictability, and competitiveness of airlines’ rewards programs to ensure passengers are receiving the value promised to them.
Protecting Travelers with Disabilities:
- Secretary Buttigieg announced a final rule to require airlines to meet more rigorous standards for accommodating passengers with disabilities and to prevent physical harm to passengers and damages to mobility aids such as wheelchairs.
- The Department issued a $50 million penalty against American Airlines for numerous serious violations of the laws protecting airline passengers with disabilities between 2019 and 2023. This penalty was 25 times larger than any previous USDOT penalty against an airline for violating disability regulations.
- Secretary Buttigieg published the first-ever Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights to help travelers understand what they are entitled to when they fly.
- USDOT established a final rule on accessible lavatories on aircraft, requiring airlines to make lavatories on new single-aisle aircraft large enough to permit a passenger with a disability and an attendant to approach, enter, and maneuver within as necessary to use the aircraft lavatory.
- USDOT laid the groundwork for airlines to modify their cabins to allow passengers to remain in their wheelchairs onboard an aircraft and for a future rulemaking that would address the issue across the industry.
- Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, USDOT announced funding for accessibility improvements at airports across the country, with more than 150 projects moving forward to improve airport terminal access for people with disabilities and ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Banning Family Seating Junk Fees: USDOT proposed to ban family seating junk fees and guarantee that parents can sit with their children for no extra charge when they fly. Before Secretary Buttigieg pressed airlines, no airline committed to guaranteeing fee-free family seating. Now, five of the 10 largest U.S. airlines guarantee fee-free family seating as the Department is working on its family seating junk fee ban proposal.
Expanded Enforcement Capacity: USDOT launched a new partnership with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general to fast-track the review of consumer complaints, hold airlines accountable, and protect the rights of the traveling public.
Stronger Airline Oversight: Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, USDOT issued more than $225 million in penalties against airlines for consumer protection violations. Between 1996 and 2020, USDOT collectively issued $70 million in penalties against airlines for consumer protection violations.
- USDOT’s largest airline penalty: $140 million against Southwest Airlines for its 2022 meltdown during Winter Storm Elliot.
- USDOT’s largest penalty for disability rights violations: $50 million against American Airlines for discrimination against passengers with disabilities.
- USDOT’s largest airline penalty for religious discrimination: $4 million against Lufthansa for denying boarding to 128 Jewish passengers.
- USDOT’s largest airline penalty for extreme tarmac delays: $4.1 million against American Airlines for dozens of instances where passengers were kept on the tarmac for 3+ hours.
- USDOT’s first-ever penalty for chronically delayed flights: $2 million against JetBlue for operating four chronically delayed flights that disrupted passengers’ travel.
- USDOT’s first-ever lawsuit for chronically delayed flights: In partnership with DOJ, DOT pursued action against Southwest Airlines for chronically delayed flights on two routes.
Support Our Troops Dashboard: Secretary Buttigieg launched the “Support Our Troops” dashboard to help U.S. military service members and their immediate family members more easily access travel benefits offered by the 10 largest U.S. airlines. In response to the dashboard, several airlines improved their customer service commitments to service members.

SAFETY

Roadway Safety

Secretary Buttigieg committed to the ambitious, long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities in the United States. USDOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, released in January 2022, set forth a comprehensive plan to move the country closer to that goal. Under his leadership, USDOT launched historic new safety programs and issued new rules and policies making travel safer for all road users.

Reducing Traffic Fatalities: Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, traffic fatalities declined 10 quarters in a row after 42,939 people were killed on U.S. roads in 2021.
Funding Safe Streets and Roads for All: Secretary Buttigieg announced nearly $2.9 billion to improve roadway safety at the local, regional, and Tribal levels through the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program, a new initiative created in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Funding was announced for more than 1,600 communities, covering roughly 75% of the U.S. population.
Improving Rural Road Safety: More than $1.7 billion in grants from the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program were announced to communities around the country to complete transportation projects that will increase mobility, improve safety, and generate regional economic growth.
Improving Safety on Tribal Lands: More than $108 million in grants were announced to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries on Tribal and Federal lands in 2024 through programs including the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects and the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $13 billion specifically to improve infrastructure on Tribal lands and provide technical assistance to Tribes.
Expanding Access to Truck Parking: More than $160 million in funding was invested into truck safety initiatives through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) High Priority Projects program. USDOT also invested hundreds of millions to build new truck parking spaces and infrastructure along highways and interstates – improving safety and supporting truck drivers who deserve safe spaces to rest when making long trips delivering goods – through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) and the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG) programs.
Updating New Car Safety Rating Program: Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) made significant updates to the 5-Star Safety Ratings program to include several emerging safety technologies and vehicle safety features that will protect people both inside and, for the first time, outside of a vehicle. The changes will speed up adoption of technologies that reduce the frequency and severity of crashes while helping consumers make informed decisions for their families when buying a new car.
Combatting Alcohol-Impaired Driving: USDOT released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to take the first step toward a new safety standard requiring alcohol-impaired-driving prevention technology in new passenger vehicles.
Protecting Rear-Seat Passengers: USDOT finalized a new rule requiring seat belt use warnings for rear seats and enhanced warnings for driver and front passenger seats on all new passenger cars, light trucks, and certain buses, which is estimated to prevent more than 500 injuries and save about 50 lives every year.
Accelerating the Deployment of New Safety Technology: USDOT finalized a new rule to require Automatic Emergency Breaking (AEB) systems on all new passenger cars and light trucks starting in September 2029, which is estimated to save at least 360 lives and prevent 24,000 injuries a year. USDOT also proposed AEB standards for heavy trucks.
Taking Action on Vehicle Safety: USDOT made sure vehicle owners received safe, free, and effective remedies from manufacturers according to the Safety Act and federal regulations by overseeing 1,000 recalls in just one year for vehicles, car seats, tires, recreational vehicles, and other potentially defective equipment.
Addressing Some of the Most Dangerous Roadways for Wildlife Collisions: Each year, more than a million wildlife-vehicle collisions result in thousands of serious injuries, hundreds of fatalities, and billions in medical costs and property damage nationwide. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the first-ever Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program to reduce vehicle collisions with wildlife while improving habitat connectivity. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, more than $234 million was announced for 35 projects to address some of the country’s most dangerous roadways for wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Rail Safety

To ensure the safety of communities and rail workers, Secretary Buttigieg advanced safety inspections and training, delivered historic funding to make rail crossings safer, and pushed Congress and industry to raise safety standards for workers and the public.

Raising Rail Safety Standards: USDOT issued a long-awaited rule that ensures trains are safely staffed by establishing minimum safety requirements for the size of train crews, codifying crew staffing rules at a federal level, and ensuring that freight and passenger rail operations are governed by consistent safety rules in all states. The new rule enhances safety in the rail industry by generally requiring a second crew member on all trains. USDOT also finalized new regulations requiring railroads to develop certification and training programs for train dispatchers and signal employees to ensure these workers are qualified and fit for duty.

Improving Railroad Crossing Safety: Through the first ever Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, USDOT awarded more than $1.7 billion to eliminate, improve, or study more than 1,400 at-grade crossings – making our roads and railways safer while also helping Americans save time on their commutes.

Holding Railroads Accountable: Following the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, USDOT conducted more than 7,500 inspections to assess the condition of track, signal, and train control infrastructure, equipment, and operating practices along High-Hazard Flammable Train routes and along routes on which large quantities of hazardous materials travel.

Improving Working Conditions: Since the Administration joined the rail unions’ push for paid sick leave, approximately 90 percent of Class I freight railroad workers now have paid sick time, a significant improvement from about 5% who had coverage at the end of 2022.

Expanding the Confidential Close Call Reporting System: After Secretary Buttigieg pressed them, all Class I freight railroads agreed to participate in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) for rail employees to help identify and better prevent safety issues. Class I railroads continue to formally join the program in partnership with rail labor, including BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern, to allow workers to confidentially report unsafe events without fear of retribution or FRA enforcement.

Protecting Train Crew Safety: USDOT issued a final rule ensuring train crews and employees who are on board trains carrying hazardous materials have emergency escape breathing apparatuses for protection in the event of an emergency.

Providing First Responders with Real-Time Hazmat Information: USDOT required railroads to proactively provide first responders with real-time information about rail hazmat shipments so that firefighters and other first responders can be better prepared to protect themselves and communities in an emergency response.

Aviation Safety

Air travel is America’s safest mode of transportation. Every day, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) helps ensure the safety of approximately 45,000 flights and millions of airline passengers. The 10 busiest days in the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) history all occurred in 2024, with November 26, 2024, setting a one-day passenger record with more than three million Americans screened by TSA at U.S. airports.

With aging infrastructure and an increasingly complex airspace accommodating record air travel, Secretary Buttigieg made historic investments in the nation’s airports to improve the passenger experience through expanded capacity, increased safety and accessibility, and reduced flight cancellations. He also was a steady voice calling for a consistent funding mechanism to update the FAA’s outdated technology systems – an issue that becomes more pressing with each passing year.

Strengthening Oversight of Aircraft Manufacturing: In response to the January 5, 2024, Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX door plug incident, the FAA launched aggressive oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, putting more FAA personnel on factory floors and directing Boeing to develop a comprehensive action plan with key benchmarks to demonstrate progress. Since January 2024, the FAA steadily increased on-site staffing at key facilities to provide direct oversight of Boeing, conducting more unplanned audits and increasing engagement with machinists on the production line. During this period, the FAA doubled the number of inspectors responsible for overseeing Boeing and its suppliers.
Increasing Air Traffic Controller Hiring: The FAA met its goal of hiring 1,800 additional air traffic controllers in Fiscal Year 2024 and set an even more aggressive goal of hiring 2,000 in 2025 – the first reversal of air traffic controller staffing since numbers began dropping in 2012. Air traffic control is one of the most specialized and skilled professions in the federal government, and at the end of Secretary Buttigieg’s tenure, there were more than 3,400 controllers in training to work at FAA’s air traffic facilities. The FAA also instituted new efforts to address fatigue and shift hours.
Establishing the Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative: The FAA established a new Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) that bolsters the current air traffic controller hiring pipeline by allowing the FAA to hire more candidates who can begin facility training immediately upon graduation. Four colleges and universities have already signed on to become Enhanced AT-CTI schools: the University of North Dakota, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Tulsa Community College, and the University of Oklahoma.
Requiring Aviation Organizations to Detect and Address Safety Risks Early: The FAA issued new requirements for charter airlines, commuter airlines, air tour operators, and certain aircraft manufacturers to implement a Safety Management System (SMS). By using SMS, these organizations will be better able to proactively identify hazards and manage safety risks.
Improving Runway Safety: In early 2023, the FAA issued a Safety Call to Action and held a safety summit with 200 leaders from across the aviation industry to discuss ways to drive down the incidence of all runway incursions. The number of serious incidents dropped from 11 in 2023 to one in 2024. FAA also fast-tracked the development and implementation of runway safety technologies, such as new airfield surveillance systems that provide air traffic controllers with accurate depictions of aircraft and vehicles on the entire airfield, in all weather conditions.
Strengthening Oversight of Repair Stations: In 2024, the FAA issued a final rule that requires certificated repair stations outside the U.S. to implement a drug and alcohol testing program. The testing applies to workers who perform safety-sensitive maintenance functions on certain air carrier aircraft.

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety

From methane leaks to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, aging pipelines threaten public health and safety, and repairing or replacing them can impose significant costs on ratepayers – especially in an emergency. That’s why Secretary Buttigieg expanded oversight, improved safety, and promoted innovation when it comes to America’s 3.3 million miles of regulated pipelines, including creating the first-ever pipeline replacement grant program:

Modernizing Gas Pipelines: USDOT announced nearly $800 million in grants to support 227 projects aimed at fixing aging natural gas pipelines, helping reduce air pollution, and cutting costs for ratepayers in 29 states through the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization grant program, authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The grants are being used to repair, rehabilitate, or replace more than 1,000 miles of pipe nationwide.
Streamlining Environmental Reviews to Fix Gas Pipes: USDOT streamlined the application of federal environmental review requirements so that grant recipients can take advantage of a more efficient federal environmental review process to quickly fix older, leak-prone natural gas pipes.
Enforcing Pipeline Safety: In 2023, USDOT issued more than $12.5 million in proposed civil penalties against operators who violated safety regulations – the highest yearly amount in proposed penalties in the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) history. PHMSA also reduced the average time to initiate and fully close enforcement cases by approximately 40 percent.
Increasing Hazmat Training for First Responders: USDOT provided an additional $41 million in funding for community pipeline and hazardous materials safety programs that will double hazmat training for firefighters.

STRENGTHENING SUPPLY CHAINS

Thanks to historic funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Secretary Buttigieg invested in projects nationwide to strengthen our supply chains through modernized freight corridors and ports, expanded and more efficient rail lines, and more secure data sharing systems to better anticipate shipments. These steady efforts helped lower COVID-19 inflation across the economy – with improved supply chains accounting for more than 80 percent of the fall in inflation seen in 2023.

Modernizing Ports and Marine Highways: USDOT made more than $1.4 billion available since 2021 to modernize ports and strengthen supply chains through the Port Infrastructure Development Program and the U.S. Marine Highway Program, part of the historic $17 billion included in the infrastructure law specifically to strengthen coastal and inland waterway ports, reduce emissions, and ease landside congestion.
Designating New Marine Highway Routes: Secretary Buttigieg designated two new Marine Highway Routes that added nearly 7,000 miles to the marine highway system to increase the use of America’s waterways, relieve congestion, speed up the movement of goods, strengthen supply chains, and support local economies in Alaska, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Improving Supply Chain Data Sharing: USDOT partnered with more than 80 companies, including the nation’s busiest container ports, major ocean carriers, and some of the largest retail importers, to share supply chain data – something that had never been done before and has enormous potential to make supply chains more efficient and bring down costs for American families. The Freight Logistics Optimizations Works (FLOW) initiative is a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership created and led by USDOT. It creates a more complete, shared picture of the U.S. supply chain for its members. After just two years, FLOW already encompassed data on 75% of all U.S. container imports and 80% of U.S. container terminal capacity.
Harmonizing Regulations to Reduce Shipping Costs: USDOT announced a new final rule that harmonizes federal regulations on shipping hazardous materials with international standards. The action improves safety, streamlines the transport of essential products – including medical supplies, batteries, and components used in manufacturing – and encourages shippers to package goods more efficiently. The streamlined requirements will save an estimated $50-130 million in shipping costs.

WEALTH CREATION

Transportation is at its best when it connects people to education, jobs, resources, and opportunity – and even the most transformative transportation investments will fail to meet their full potential if they do not reach the people and communities that stand to gain from them the most. Secretary Buttigieg committed to connecting people to opportunity through transportation investments.

Establishing Justice40 goals for 40 USDOT programs: Created by the Biden-Harris Administration, Justice40 is an opportunity to address gaps in transportation infrastructure by establishing the goal that 40 percent of the benefits from grants, programs, and initiatives flow to communities left out of previous funding opportunities, including urban, rural, and Tribal communities. USDOT integrated this goal into 40 funding programs totaling approximately $150 billion in contract authority. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, USDOT exceeded the 40 percent goal, with 55 percent of the benefits reaching the communities most in need.
Hiring Local Workers for Local Projects: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made it easier to hire locally for construction jobs, helping keep more of the economic benefits in local communities. With financial assistance from FHWA, four State DOTs and 14 local agencies in cities including Syracuse, New York, San Diego, California, and Portland, Oregon, included local hiring preferences in their project labor agreements on 77 transportation projects with a total value exceeding $4.65 billion.
Improving Community Connections: USDOT announced nearly $4 billion in grant awards for 256 projects through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity grant programs to take on projects – like pedestrian bridges, highway caps, and added transit stops – that make it easier to reach destinations like medical centers, schools, job sites, and places of worship.
Providing Technical Assistance for Underserved and Rural Communities: USDOT announced $45 million through the Thriving Communities Program to help 176 under-resourced and disadvantaged communities identify, develop, and deliver transportation projects to achieve locally driven economic development, health, environment, mobility, and access goals.
Supporting Tribal Transportation Self-Governance: The Tribal Transportation Self- Governance Program provides federally recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations greater control, flexibility, and decision-making authority over USDOT funds used to carry out programs in Tribal communities. Since 2022, five Tribes have signed compacts to participate: Cherokee Nation, Ohkay Owingeh, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Forest County Potawatomi Community, and Gulkana Village Council.

Small and minority-owned businesses generate hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and support millions of jobs, but they often do not have the resources to compete with larger, more established firms for infrastructure contracts. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, USDOT helped level the playing field, giving small businesses a fair chance to compete for opportunities that build generational wealth in their communities and help deliver better infrastructure across America.

Supporting Small and Disadvantaged Businesses through Direct Contracts: USDOT increased the contract dollars going to small and disadvantaged businesses by $1.7 billion in 2023, in line with the government-wide goal of 21% of all federal contracts reaching small and disadvantaged businesses.
Ensuring All Businesses have a Fair Chance to Compete: USDOT modernized the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) programs to make federal contracts more accessible to small, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses.
Linking Small Businesses to Private Capital: USDOT launched Connect to Capital, an online tool that serves as a database to help small businesses connect to private equity capital investors.
Engaging with Project Partners and Business Owners: USDOT led a Wealth Creation Tour, hosting a series of outreach events with small business partners during the summer of 2024 to discuss federal contracting opportunities made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

ACCESSIBILITY

All Americans need access to transportation in order to thrive, whether that is a personal vehicle, public transit, or the ability to walk, bike, or roll. But good transportation – and the economic opportunities that come with it – have not always been equitably available to all Americans. Secretary Buttigieg set out to change that trajectory to ensure all modes of transportation are affordable, accessible, and available to everyone who might count on them.

Improving Air Travel Accessibility: USDOT finalized a rule establishing new protections to ensure that airline passengers who use wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity. The rule sets new standards for prompt, safe, and dignified assistance; mandates enhanced training for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with disabilities and handle passengers’ wheelchairs; and specifies actions that airlines must take to protect passengers when a wheelchair is damaged during transport. The Department also finalized a rule on accessible lavatories on aircraft, requiring airlines to make lavatories on new single-aisle aircraft large enough to permit a passenger with a disability and an attendant to approach, enter, and maneuver within as necessary to use the aircraft lavatory.
Ensuring Accessible Transit: USDOT invested more than $1 billion through the All Stations Accessibility Program to make it easier for people with disabilities and mobility limitations to access some of the nation’s oldest and busiest rail transit systems through essential upgrades, such as the installation of elevators and platform improvements. USDOT also proposed new rules to ensure that transit stops meet Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines.
Promoting Affordable Housing Near Transit Stations: USDOT announced nearly $50 million in innovative finance grants in support of transit-oriented development and downtown redevelopment initiatives to help improve housing and transportation affordability. USDOT also announced $28 million in FTA grants to support equitable transit-oriented development.
Reconnecting Communities Program: The Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity discretionary grant programs – designed to reconnect communities divided by transportation infrastructure – received $1 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and an additional $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act. Secretary Buttigieg announced 256 federal grants for transformative, community-led projects, including capping interstates with parks, adding transit routes, and filling in sunken highways to reclaim the land for housing.

CLIMATE, SUSTAINABILITY, AND RESILIENCY

More frequent and severe weather events year-round have lasting impacts on critical supply chains and Americans’ ability to safely travel. Because the transportation sector is responsible for more carbon pollution than any other sector of the U.S. economy, it also represents a huge opportunity to improve efficiency and cut pollution while ensuring that when our infrastructure is rebuilt, it’s done so in a way that makes it better able to withstand the impacts of our changing climate.

Building More Resilient Infrastructure: Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, USDOT launched the first-ever program at the Department dedicated exclusively to infrastructure resiliency. The PROTECT program helps communities adapt or build surface transportation to withstand climate-fueled hazards, including sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, and extreme weather events. The program provides a total of $8.7 billion in formula funding and discretionary grants over five years.
Incentivizing the Use of Low Carbon Materials in Construction: USDOT launched a first-of-its-kind program to accelerate the use of cleaner construction materials that emit less carbon pollution. The program provides incentives for states to incorporate American-made, low-embodied carbon materials into construction projects.
Expanding Access to Active Transportation Networks: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested record amounts to help communities add active transportation options that make it easier and safer to walk, bike, and roll, including redesigned intersections and enhanced sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes, pedestrian bridges, and multi-modal paths and greenways. At least $4 billion in FHWA federal-aid funding alone was obligated specifically for state and local projects that support active transportation. And, under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, FHWA recently announced nearly $45 million in discretionary awards through the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program to communities across the country.
Investing in Public Transit and Zero-Transmission Buses: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also put forth a record amount of funding – more than $100 billion – to support light rail and add bus routes and frequency, including bus rapid transit lines. Bus fleets and facilities got an upgrade too, with investments announced for more 3,500 low- and zero-emission American-made transit buses and the infrastructure that supports them, boosting U.S. manufacturing jobs in the process.
Raising Fuel Economy Standards: USDOT issued new vehicle fuel economy standards that will save Americans more than $23 billion in fuel costs while reducing pollution, part of a decades-long program that saves people money at the pump. By 2031, the average light-duty vehicle will get 50 miles per gallon under these new standards. When the CAFE program began in the 1970s, the average vehicle got just 13 miles to the gallon.
Helping States and Communities Put in More EV Chargers: While the vast majority of electric vehicle charging is expected to continue to occur at home, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helped the U.S. prepare for the global transition to EVs and spurred private activity by including formula funding to help states site and build out a national network of chargers along highways. BIL also included grants for local leaders to install chargers in convenient locations in town, such as libraries and apartment buildings. The number of publicly available EV chargers nationwide more than doubled during the Biden-Harris Administration to more than 206,000.
Reducing Air Pollution in Communities Near Ports: USDOT announced $148 million in grants to 11 states and Puerto Rico under the first round of a new program to improve air quality and reduce pollution for truck drivers, port workers, and families that live in neighborhoods surrounding ports.
Promoting Sustainable Aviation: USDOT announced $291 million for a project to accelerate the production and use of sustainable aviation fuels and the development of low-emission aviation technologies that will support the U.S. aviation climate goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

INNOVATION AND RESEARCH

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created seed investments to bring our transportation systems into the modern age through digitization, connectivity, enhanced resilience, and more. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, USDOT:

Delivered SMART Grants and ATTAIN: These investments account for the largest ever investment in transportation technology at the state, local, and Tribal levels, with more than $400 million committed to 150 project sites to support new initiatives that will push the frontier on technologies like digital infrastructure to make streets safer, advanced traffic signalization, drone inspection of transportation assets, fare payments technology, and more.
Invested in V2X: USDOT announced more than $75 million in investments to support connected vehicle technology that will enable vehicles and infrastructure to better communicate with each other, a key tool in addressing safety.
Invested in R&D: USDOT launched ARPA-I (modeled after DARPA and ARPA-E) to take on high-risk, high-reward next generation technologies. USDOT is also supporting 140 universities across the country undertaking R&D to make our transportation system safer and more resilient in areas like AI, automation, cyber security, materials innovation, and more.

WORKING WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS TO IMPROVE GLOBAL TRANSPORTATION

Increased Aviation Safety and Access Through Open Skies Agreements: USDOT worked with its international partners to improve the safety, efficiency, and resilience of the global transportation system. Under Secretary Buttigieg’s leadership, the United States concluded eight Open Skies agreements with Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Moldova, Mongolia, and Mozambique. These agreements enable the expansion of passenger and cargo flights between the U.S. and the signing country, promoting increased travel and trade and ultimately spurring high quality job opportunities and economic growth.
Promoted Sustainable International Aviation: In 2022, Secretary Buttigieg led the U.S. delegation to the 41st Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations agency that sets standards for aviation worldwide. The Secretary finalized agreements strengthening ICAO’s global market-based measure and adopting the long-term aspirational goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. USDOT-led talks resulted in an agreement on an ICAO goal of reducing international jet fuel’s carbon intensity by five percent by 2030, which – together with the significant investments catalyzed by the Inflation Reduction Act – are spurring significant increases in sustainable aviation fuel.
Promoted Green Shipping Corridors: In 2023, Secretary Buttigieg hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Transportation Ministerial Meeting in Detroit, advancing U.S. policy priorities including addressing transportation’s role in climate change. Secretary Buttigieg also addressed the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization, which adopted the goal of achieving net-zero emissions from international shipping by 2050. In response, USDOT supported several bilateral Green Shipping Corridors alongside State, DOE, and other agencies. International cooperation on green shipping included bilateral work with South Korea and the United Kingdom and the launch of the Green Shipping Challenge with Norway at COP27.

Public Release.