Buttigieg Touts Security Progress After IIJA Enactment
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To mark the anniversary of a $1 trillion infrastructure legislation, the nation’s high transportation officer pointed to progress in implementing security provisions linked to freight and commuter corridors.
Secretary Pete Buttigieg indicated such security applications resulted from the Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act or have been launched by the Biden administration. The security initiatives reply to latest federal information estimating almost 43,000 visitors fatalities in 2021, marking a ten.5% enhance from the prior yr.
“We should all dedicate ourselves to ending this disaster on our roadways and making a safer transportation system in order that extra households don’t have to share this grief,” Buttigieg mentioned this month. The IIJA was enacted Nov. 15, 2021.
Right now is the World Day of Remembrance for Street Site visitors Victims.
Behind every deadly crash there’s a household that’s lacking a liked one. It does not should be this manner. We should work collectively to create a world by which everybody can attain their vacation spot safely. #WDoR2022 pic.twitter.com/cUWN9PJ5hy
— TransportationGov (@USDOT) November 20, 2022
Businesses taking a lead on security applications included the Federal Freeway Administration, the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration and the Federal Motor Service Security Administration.
“We all know roadway deaths are preventable as a result of some locations are doing a significantly better job at stopping them — each overseas and inside sure U.S. communities,” the secretary added. “The U.S. Division of Transportation is dedicated to creating actual progress towards ending visitors fatalities, and we name on everybody to hitch us on this nationwide effort that may solely succeed once we work collectively.”
Particularly, the secretary famous the division’s issuance of a nationwide roadway security technique.
“Individuals should journey safely of their communities. People make errors, and pretty much as good stewards of the transportation system, we must always have in place the safeguards to forestall these errors from being deadly. Zero is the one acceptable variety of deaths and critical accidents on our roadways,” the secretary indicated in an announcement included within the security doc.
Buttigieg highlighted NHTSA because it finalizes an advisory committee on underride safety. The company sought purposes for appointment to the committee as a way to ship recommendation and suggestions on security laws to scale back underride crashes. The secretary additionally pointed to FMCSA’s proposed rulemaking on velocity limiters on giant vehicles. FMCSA acknowledged DOT’s dedication that velocity administration is a instrument for decreasing accidents and fatalities.
One yr into the infrastructure legislation and we’ve 1000’s of tasks underway to enhance the standard of life for communities throughout America.
This week, we’ll share with you 10 of these tasks taking place proper now. pic.twitter.com/zz6PWfWZue
— TransportationGov (@USDOT) November 16, 2022
Moreover, DOT unveiled a web-based dashboard that tracks federal transportation security proposals, and launched a “Protected Streets and Roads for All” grant program. The grants, backed by the infrastructure legislation, would offer $5 billion over 5 years for street security initiatives. The primary spherical of grants shall be introduced subsequent yr. Per background about this system, the grants “help planning, infrastructure, behavioral and operational initiatives to forestall dying and critical damage on roads and streets involving all roadway customers.”
Moreover, the division adopted a “full streets” idea for pursuing security efforts, and FHWA issued steering for safeguarding susceptible street customers. FHWA defined its steering “will present extra readability for states as they develop their ‘Susceptible Street Consumer Security Evaluation,’ a brand new security strategy established beneath President [Joe] Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure legislation to evaluate the protection efficiency of particular person states, establish areas of excessive danger to susceptible street customers, and decide what security enhancements will mitigate these security dangers.”
The secretary’s replace on security applications got here quickly after a gaggle of senators pressed his division to advance transportation security enhancements.
Democratic Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, together with colleagues on the transportation committees, referred to as for the adoption or development of initiatives beneath NHTSA’s jurisdiction.
“The IIJA required NHTSA to take much-needed motion to make sure this street security disaster involves a useless finish,” the senators wrote the company this month. “We due to this fact urge NHTSA to swiftly implement key security provisions within the legislation and reverse this horrifying development in motorcar fatalities.”
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