Creating sustainable transportation options for Michiganders is a huge deal and President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could provide the Great Lakes State with $1 billion over five years to improve public transit options. From city-run buses to statewide trains, more people will be able to get where they need to be even if they don’t have a vehicle. Michiganders who use public transportation spend an extra 67.7 percent of their time commuting and non-white households are 5.6 times more likely to commute using public transportation. That’s why this investment from the infrastructure law matters.
Detroit-area State Senator Stephanie Chang is celebrating President Biden’s historic investment in the Detroit News and highlighting why it’s so important for major cities like this one to have options for the folks who don’t have cars.
Read what she had to say about the need for transit investments for Detroiters to travel through the city and across the state as both an equity and access issue:
The Detroit News: Detroiters will benefit from new infrastructure law with better transportation
The passage of President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law was a huge deal for Detroiters who rely on public transportation to get around.
Detroiters who use public transportation spend an extra 67.7% of their time commuting, and people of color are 5.6 times more likely to commute on buses and trains than White folks. Around one-third of households in Detroit don’t have cars.
[…]
In our city, 92% of transit riders are people of color, so improving transit is not just an access issue, it’s a racial equity issue. Improving accessibility is also critical for people with disabilities who ride the bus.
The infrastructure law invests $44 billion in the Federal Railroad Administration to provide grants to Amtrak, Michigan and others to improve passenger rail travel within metro areas like Detroit’s.
[…]
For years under GOP leadership, infrastructure money has gone primarily toward roads, but now the Biden administration has made an important effort to address the country’s environmental footprint by investing billions into Michigan’s public transportation and passenger rails.
The folks riding buses and trains across southeast Michigan could have greater access to major hubs, get to other major cities in the state more easily and be able to live a more sustainable life.
The passage of this law is a significant step toward historic investments in Detroit and across Michigan that can change the way Michigan residents get around the Great Lakes State — whether they have a car or not.
