A central approach of the Biden-Harris Administration is rebuilding the country from the bottom up with legislative efforts that are aimed at supporting all Americans including small businesses and working families across the country. Efforts such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are giving the U.S. a much-need upgrade in areas that make communities stronger and safer.

One crisis that often goes undiscussed is our country’s high number of car crash deaths. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021. These preventable deaths which impact families and communities have prompted the U.S. Department of Transportation to launch a new initiative to reduce crashes. The Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program will direct $800 million in grant awards for 510 projects – from redesigned roads to better sidewalks and crosswalks – in the first round of a five-year, $5 billion program.

As Secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT), Pete Buttigieg is overseeing this effort to improve safety, as well as the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve roads, bridges, airports, and mass transit. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Secretary Buttigieg on DOT’s track record and plans for the future. Below is our discussion.

Rhett Buttle: We are approaching two years of the Biden-Harris Administration. What have you learned serving as Secretary for the DOT and what should we know about the work you’ve accomplished?

Secretary Buttigieg: It’s been a really extraordinary period for us at Transportation, both in terms of opportunities and in terms of the challenges we’ve seen. We faced one of the most severe and sustained sets of disruptions ever to hit the modern U.S. transportation system, affecting everything from container shipping to airline performance – most of it connected to the pandemic. As we’ve confronted these problems, we’ve seen what is demonstrated to be the interconnectedness of our systems, and the consequences of decades of underinvestment catching up to us. But the great thing is that the sources of most of those problems are temporary, and the investments that were made are permanent. That’s what makes this, I think, the best time in decades for transportation.

We have already been able to set into motion tens of thousands of miles in highway repairs. We’re having new conversations about safety resources that we haven’t seen when it comes to public transit, and haven’t seen in a very long time when it comes to rail, airports, and seaports. We’ve seen that there is the opportunity to work on a bipartisan basis, maybe not on every area of policy, but certainly on transportation. The President came in with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and a lot of people snickered, but within a year it was done. And ever since that bill was signed, we have done the work putting the dollars out there.

It’s extraordinary that this week alone I’m here with the President celebrating the work being done on a tunnel that is 150 years old in Maryland, and the beginning of a project in New York that will be one of the biggest construction projects in the U.S. for a very long time. In the meantime, hundreds – if not thousands – of communities that are much smaller than Baltimore and New York are also seeing game changing investments. So it’s an incredibly exciting time for this work, navigating huge challenges, but also getting things done. As we get into what’s just the second out of five years of this funding, we’re really looking forward to more and more of the projects coming off the page and going into the construction phase.

Rhett Buttle: This week, the Department of Transportation is announcing a new safety initiative designed to decrease road use crashes. Can you tell us more about this?

Secretary Buttigieg: America has a crisis of roadway deaths, and its proportions are so big that I think we’ve been lulled into not noticing it. It’s almost like growing up in a country that’s been in a war the whole time. All of us know people who have been killed in roadway crashes and yet it doesn’t get the kind of attention that issues, such as gun violence, do. And importantly like gun violence, it’s preventable. Lots of other developed countries have dramatically lower rates of roadway deaths.

What we’re doing here is we’re putting our money where our mouth is, funding communities to make improvements that are going to save lives. We’ve got about $800 million going out just in this first year and it’s to go to communities that have plans at the local level, or want to develop plans to make a difference. Our national roadway strategy is about safer vehicles, safer drivers, safer roads, safer speeds, and better standard post-crash care so the injuries don’t become fatalities.

We can make a big difference and cut down that number of 40,000 driving deaths a year in the direction of zero, and celebrate communities that have already gotten there, including sizable ones. We just have to acknowledge the number of people who have lost their lives to this. People have to understand that this is a crisis and it is preventable, and that we don’t have to accept it. Now we’re putting resources towards driving action.

Rhett Buttle: February is Black History Month. What steps is the Department of Transportation taking to increase equity when it comes to distributing funds and delivering results on quality infrastructure and transportation?

Secretary Buttigieg: There are two sides of this that we focus on. What we build, and then how we do it. When it comes to what we build, we know that a lot of communities, in particular communities of color, either didn’t get good investment or worse, the investment came and it destroyed those communities. What we’re doing now is addressing that by getting the dollars to overburdened and underserved communities; everything from improvements in transit to opportunities to reconnect across highways or railways that divide them.

The other side of it is the how, and I think that’s just as important. There are so many good-paying jobs on the labor side and on the business inside. We’re working with the labor unions, advocacy organizations, and minority businesses who have the best track record usually with employing people from previously excluded backgrounds. As we move the better part of a trillion dollars through our economy and get this infrastructure built, we need to make sure that we do it in ways that are going to create livelihoods and pathways that will last. As we do, I think it’s going to contribute to closing wealth gaps in this country that have been around for a very long time.

Rhett Buttle: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once in a generation opportunity. How are you engaging with the private sector – in particular small business?

Secretary Buttigieg: Well there are a number of quality improvements to be made, which will largely be up to all of us to deliver – and that’s why we’re so excited about the opportunities being created, including for small business. For our own direct procurement we’ve set a new higher goal for small disadvantaged businesses. We’re looking to aim higher in the years to come. We’ve been working with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) doing matchmaking and just trying to shine a light on the pipeline of opportunities coming up, so people don’t feel like they’re stuck without opportunities because they haven’t been able to do this work for generations.

Overall, we’re talking about over a trillion dollars of economic stimulus. To me it’s our responsibility, not just to better use small businesses and businesses who haven’t had a shot in the past, but to grow the number of small businesses. How could we not with the activity we’re creating? So we’re very focused on that. And again, we’re recognizing that we’re not just building roads and bridges and tunnels, but we’re building up livelihoods and communities.

Rhett Buttle: What are your goals for the DOT looking ahead to 2023? How should the private sector be thinking about partnering with the department or as a resource?

Secretary Buttigieg: Well now is when we’re really entering the delivery phase. Think about it this way – the first year of the Administration was spent selling this infrastructure package and working to get it passed. In the second year with that bill in hand, we were setting up the machinery as a department to get those dollars out the door. Now we’re going to the third year, and this is when those dollars are put to use. This is the right time for the business community to be gearing up. We’re really going to depend on the private sector in ways that are almost unprecedented. We’re building at a level that’s gonna test the productive capacity of the United States, from raw materials to workforce readiness, and we can’t leave any town off the table. So we’re turning to the private sector to gear up and be ready for all this opportunity that’s come along. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re investing in the kind of user-friendliness as an agency and the kind of workforce setups more broadly in order to meet the business community where it is, and move forward together in what is going to be very much an infrastructure decade.

Additionally, Secretary Buttigieg joined PPS’ Rhett Buttle & San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria this morning to discuss some of these issues on Punchbowl News. You can view the video of that conversation here.