WASHINGTON: To beat China and modernise America’s crumbling transport network, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled a “once-in-a-generation” $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
The first phase of Biden’s “Build Back Better” programme, which he set out in a speech in Pittsburgh, details massive investment spread over eight years.
Putting infrastructure at the centerpiece of the president’s economic agenda, it calls for the injection of $620 billion into transport, including upgrading 20,000 miles of roads, repairing thousands of bridges and doubling funding for public transport.
“Today I’m proposing a plan for the nation that rewards work, not just rewards wealth. It builds a fair economy that gives everybody a chance to succeed. It’s going to create the strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world,” Biden said.
“It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America, unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system and the space race decades ago.”
