U.S. Department of Transportation Accomplishments Overview

U.S. Department of Transportation Accomplishments Overview – January 2021-January 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