Biden infrastructure plan bets big on US return to mass transit after Covid-19 | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
June 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2025
Biden infrastructure plan bets big on US return to mass transit after Covid-19

Analysis

Reuters
01 April, 2021, 10:55 am
Last modified: 01 April, 2021, 11:24 am

Related News

  • Biden's cancer diagnosis prompts new questions about his health while in White House
  • Former US President Biden diagnosed with 'aggressive' prostate cancer
  • Trump's White House launches COVID website that criticizes WHO, Fauci and Biden
  • Trump says he's revoking Biden's security clearance
  • Biden’s last-minute orders won’t save his legacy

Biden infrastructure plan bets big on US return to mass transit after Covid-19

Public transit systems have suffered through the Covid-19 pandemic as tens of millions of Americans worked from home and curbed business and tourism travel

Reuters
01 April, 2021, 10:55 am
Last modified: 01 April, 2021, 11:24 am
Democratic US presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks about the economy and the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic during a campaign stop at UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) Local 951 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US, October 2, 2020/ Reuters
Democratic US presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks about the economy and the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic during a campaign stop at UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) Local 951 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US, October 2, 2020/ Reuters

US President Joe Biden's sweeping $2.3 trillion plan to rebuild America's crumbling infrastructure proposes doubling federal funding for mass transit and spending $80 billion to expand and modernize passenger rail service.

Public transit systems have suffered through the Covid-19 pandemic as tens of millions of Americans worked from home and curbed business and tourism travel. Many avoided subways and buses due to health concerns over traveling in confined spaces.

But even with widespread vaccinations, it is unclear if demand will return any time soon. Work-from-home arrangements initially seen as temporary pandemic measures now appear to be a long-lasting phenomenon for millions of US workers.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

In several cities with the largest, often most decrepit public transit systems, residents have literally headed for the hills to places beyond mass transport networks. Lower-income workers reliant on public transportation are at risk of being at a permanent disadvantage if investment lags in those systems.

In 2019, Americans took 9.92 billion trips on buses and rail systems. It is a figure that fell 53% to 4.64 billion trips in 2020, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Fourth-quarter demand fell 62% in 2020 from the previous year, while in Washington, DC, transit fell 86% in the same period.

By comparison, annual US private vehicle travel fell only 13.2% in 2020.

Taxpayers often are subsidizing near-empty buses and trains to keep essential transit routes open. Congress has awarded transit agencies nearly $70 billion in emergency assistance, including $30.5 billion Biden signed into law in March.

Some Republicans in Congress in February sought to shift $10 billion of the transit assistance to states to repair highways, but Democrats rejected that.

On Monday, Senator Ed Markey and Representative Ayanna Pressley, both progressive Democrats, introduced legislation to help transit systems offer free or heavily discounted travel. They cite data that low-income families typically spend nearly 30% of household income on transportation expenses.

Even before the pandemic triggered the first economic shutdowns in March 2020, many US mass transit systems were plagued by overcrowding and delays after years of under-investment.

Biden's plan would invest $85 billion in subways, buses and other transportation systems, the plan says, "to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand," part of a broader push to get more people out of private cars.

"It will ultimately reduce traffic congestion for everyone," the plan says.

Representative Chuy García, a Democrat representing Chicago, said the funds to modernize transit will ensure families "are not cut off from jobs, healthcare, or school simply because they can't afford a car."

Last year, a growing number of Americans opted to buy lower-priced used cars, and automakers reported a higher number of first-time new car buyers.

Volkswagen Group of America Chief Executive Scott Keogh said in November the number of first-time US car buyers had grown during the pandemic. "It's clearly a signal that people have some doubts in public transportation, potentially some doubts in ride-share," Keogh said.

Mary Nichols, who was California Air Resources Board chair, said last year Covid-19 had led "to an increase in sales of old cars for people who might have taken a bus before."

Top News / World+Biz / Global Economy

Biden / Biden administration / Joe Biden

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Taskeen Ahmed, DCCI president. Illustration: TBS
    'Will boost business confidence': DCCI welcomes agreement between Yunus-Tarique on election
  • Sketches: TBS
    How an escalating Iran-Israel conflict could impact Bangladesh
  • News of The Day, 13 JUNE 2025
    News of The Day, 13 JUNE 2025

MOST VIEWED

  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Energy adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan with other government officials during a visit to Sylhet gas field on 13 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    I would disconnect gas supply to every home in Dhaka if I could: Energy adviser
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT
  • UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
    UCB declares no dividend for 2024 to comply with regulatory requirement
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus
    Disclosure of unconfirmed Yunus-Starmer meeting shows ‘diplomatic imprudence’: Analysts

Related News

  • Biden's cancer diagnosis prompts new questions about his health while in White House
  • Former US President Biden diagnosed with 'aggressive' prostate cancer
  • Trump's White House launches COVID website that criticizes WHO, Fauci and Biden
  • Trump says he's revoking Biden's security clearance
  • Biden’s last-minute orders won’t save his legacy

Features

Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

3h | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

2d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

3d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

4d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

Did the possibility of an Iran nuclear deal set back after the attack?

1h | TBS World
IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami killed in Israeli strike

2h | TBS World
'Historic' meeting between Yunus and Tarique underway in London

'Historic' meeting between Yunus and Tarique underway in London

5h | TBS Today
Iran warns Israel of severe retaliation

Iran warns Israel of severe retaliation

6h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net