President Biden, along with a bipartisan group of senators, announced a deal on infrastructure spending after weeks of negotiations. The agreement is focused on investments in roads, railways, bridges and broadband internet. The total amount will top $1.2 trillion over eight years, with more than $500 billion in new spending.
A central point of the negotiations involved how the infrastructure would be paid for. After weeks of negotiation, the agreement would utilize unused coronavirus relief funds, unused unemployment insurance and sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, among other measures.
Although the initial framework has been agreed upon, President Biden has stated that he will not sign off until it is paired with a separate bill that will address other elements of a broader infrastructure proposal focused on “human infrastructure,” including money allocated for childcare and tax credits for families.
The plan, known currently as “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework” includes:
- Transportation: $312 billion
- Roads, bridges, major projects: $109 billion
- Public transit: $49 billion
- Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion
- Electric buses/transit: $7.5 billion
The overall program goals related to transit include:
- Improve healthy, sustainable transportation options for millions of Americans by modernizing and expanding transit and rail networks across the country, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Repair and rebuild roads and bridges with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians.
- Build a national network of electric vehicle chargers along highways and in rural and disadvantaged communities.
- Electrify thousands of school and transit buses across the country to reduce harmful emissions and drive domestic manufacturing of zero emission vehicles and components.