PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — As one of his last acts as transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg stopped by Pittsburgh on Friday to tour several projects federal money had a hand in with improving our infrastructure.
Some of those federal dollars are used on projects like this in the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh on improvements for the light-rail system. Even with the change in administrations coming up, Pittsburgh Regional Transit said federal dollars are always needed for its projects.
With less than two weeks left in the Biden-Harris administration, Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg wanted to see how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal is being used in the area. Pittsburgh was one of the first stops Buttigieg made when he was getting support for the bill.
“Now some three years later, four years later almost, I think Americans wouldn’t have it any other way,” Buttigieg said.
He took a tour of the rivers, the light rail, airport and spoke with United Steelworkers members and Carnegie Mellon University facilities on Friday.
Some of the money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal funded the airport’s modernization project, the plan to fix the “bathtub” section of the Parkway East, the Bus Rapid Transit Project and work to reconnect neighborhoods.
While not everything will be finished during the current administration, the secretary expects to see these projects continue when the new administration is sworn in.
“Hope and expect that this department, regardless of who is in charge in Washington, will be there to help,” Buttigieg said.
For organizations like Pittsburgh Regional Transit, every federal dollar helps. Work to improve the light-rail system includes updating aging switches and concrete bases for tracks.
“We can’t do it without getting our dollars back from D.C.,” PRT CEO Katharine Kelleman said.
Future projects reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Those include working on the Panhandle Bridge and updating rail cars, along with new maintenance and garage facilities. With the change in administrations, there may be a change in priorities but transportation is used by all.
“We’re all in it together. We all travel together, so it’s getting that money back to our region that’s the important part,” Kelleman said.
KDKA asked Secretary Buttigieg about what still has to change and improve to prevent another incident, as the calendar approaches two years since the East Palestine train derailment.
The burning of toxic chemicals created a fear and lasting impact on the small Ohio village and nearby towns in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
According to the outgoing secretary, there is unfinished business. He said there have been steps taken for rail safety, but more needs to be done. Before this disaster, he says people weren’t aware of how often trails derailed.
“There is only so much we were able to do without Congress. We need Congress to act,” Buttigieg said.
Secretary Buttigieg called on Congress to pass the Rail Safety Act, which would require railroads to use defect detectors and expand the types of hazardous materials that trigger increased safety regulations.
Local Congressman Chris Deluzio sponsored the House version of the bill. The transportation secretary blames lobbyists from the rail industry for delaying the bill. He said the bill has bipartisan support, including cosponsorship in the Senate from the incoming vice president.
“It’s so frustrating that the railroad industry lobby has been able to delay that. It’s a bipartisan bill. JD Vance is one of the co-sponsors,” Sec. Buttigieg said.
One of the achievements with the rail industry that Secretary Buttigieg touted was the improvement in sick leave. According to him, it went from five percent of workers eligible to 90 percent of workers. Ideally, the outgoing secretary would like to see it be 100.
With his departure from the role in under two weeks, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, says he’ll advocate for the continued change.
“This isn’t just doing right by the people of East Palestine. This is doing right by every community that lives along a railway,” Secretary Buttigieg said.
Both the Senate bill and House bill have not received a full floor vote yet.
