It’s 3:30am and the baby isn’t sleeping. Is there a better time to take up @RobTaber’s call to read and evaluate @JoeBiden’s infrastructure plan? 1/x

I started by checking for the phrase “green highway” because if it was in the plan I may have lost my mind. Good news, folks 2/x

A lot of discussion early on abt jobs & building up the middle class. I agree with the general thrust in principle, but I’m not 100% sold on the union & American-made requirement. These are extra steps that could slow down projects & raise costs (already a problem in the US) 3/x

I’d rather see a push for prevailing wages on projects and high quality materials. Make sure workers are getting paid well, and let’s trade to get things that other countries produce well (eg: Japanese trains) 4/x

Okay. Some good stuff here:
-Public transit
-Electrification
-High speed rail

5/x

Calls out “clean drinking water” just before the end of the intro. It looks like we’re about to get into the meat of this thing
6/x

And we’re off: $50 billion for roads in year 1. It seems to insinuate that this will be for maintenance but if it’s an infusion to existing highway programs it will be about expansion. This is a red flag
7/x

I’d prefer to see an explicit “these monies are for maintenance only - we will not expand lane-miles.” Doing otherwise is how you end up with this

8/x

Next bullet is a push for Complete Streets and mentions pedestrians and cyclists. I was not expecting this!
9/x

Look, I have some gripes about complete streets (including personal experience trying to pass a CS ordinance where I live). As with most things, the devil is in the details and I’m not 100% sold that it is a great solution given how it can be stretched and interpreted 10/x

But, for a presidential campaign, I’m glad to see pedestrians and cyclists at least mentioned. I was not expecting anything so it’s good to see even a little bit. This is an area where we can push Biden further

11/x

Next up - serving historically underserved and marginalized communities. This is another area where the devil is in the details. Honestly, this sounds a bit like urban renewal to me (12/x)

I’d like to see a plan here that’s more fleshed out than just “Biden will emphasize a robust public engagement process in planning all new transportation projects”

13/x

More labor stuff (in this case training) which, okay fine, but I don’t want it slowing down projects.

14/x

Stabilizing the highway trust fund is good but honestly, we need to stop building roads. The main problem with the fund is that it’s been used to expand and now we can’t maintain what we have. For more check out @StrongTowns 15/x

Next up is a long section on electric vehicles. Here are the highlights:
-EV tax credits
-Switching over private fleets
-domestic production
-Charging networks
-R&D

16/x

We don’t get to a carbon-free network without EVs but I’m worried that the campaign is going to push the whole “my life but electric” idea(as @alexbaca has framed this stuff) rather than tackling the underlying energy consumption problems, eg: sprawl

17/x

Also, if we’re going to have credits for EVs, I want those same credits to apply to electric bicycles. WHY IS THIS SO HARD?

18/x

Okay, now we’re getting into freight and a promise for $400 billion over 10 years for research. Cool. 19/x

A section on rail! This is the Amtrak-riding Biden that I’ve been waiting for! 20/x

We start with a summary of how the US has fallen behind, a list of projects that we need to get done, a call for electrification, and a push for better regional planning. We’re off to a good start

21/x

Another call out for pedestrians and bicycles. In my mind, I’m envisioning the Dutch model described in @modacitylife’s book, but the details are lacking 22/x https://islandpress.org/books/building-cycling-city

Uhh - why does the rail section discuss adding 10% to the highway budget? 23/x

“States will also be free to use existing highway funding for alternative transportation options.”

this is good (and recommended by @shigashide) 24/x https://islandpress.org/books/better-buses-better-cities

but I’m still confused about why highway funds in the rail/transit section. I mean, what’s to stop states from just skipping spending this on public transit and just putting it toward highways? 25/x

Oh god. I’m 25 tweets into this thing what am I doing? Lol this is dumb

26/x

We get a call for $10 billion to connect workers in underserved areas to jobs and that’s the end of the rail section

27/x

I have to say, I’m disappointed. We’re going to spend $400 billion on electrification R&D and $10 billion + some highway dollars on transit? Are we serious about improving transportation? This is beginning to sound like a jobs program with some throwaway lines about transit. 28/x

Alright - let’s press on, because I’m about halfway through and there’s no going back at this point. Next up: Smart Cities 29/x

$1 billion per year for 5 cities. Thats it. That’s the smart cities plan. :sigh: 30/x

I don’t know what I was expecting here but I would like to see a push for bike lanes and pedestrian walkways. Along with BRT and dedicated transit lanes. Honestly, it doesn’t even need to be that “smart,” we just need space for not-cars 31/x

The next sections are on aviation and freight. Here are the highlights:
-double airport funding
->$1.8 billion for TIGER/INFRA grants
-$2.5 billion for ports and waterways

32/x

We’re on to building resilient infrastructure where we get no funding promises but the plan includes better zoning and building and rebuilding.

33/x

Maybe we should think about slowing growth into Marigna areas (eg: areas prone to wildfires) and start thinking about moving people away from low-lying areas that are going to be inundated in the next 50 years instead of building and rebuilding? 34/x

Is it too early to start drinking? 35/x

Net-zero emissions by 2050 and more energy efficiency. That’s good! 36/x

Onto drinking water! We’re going to
-double funding
-reduce match requirements
-“reduce the cost and energy required to generate new water supplies, for example through desalination”

37/x

Again, no mention of slowing sprawl so that we don’t end up with more infrastructure that we can’t afford to maintain. Like roads, we need to spend money repairing the pipes we have, not building new ones 38/x

$20 billion for rural broadband! And in light of recent events. I’d want to see “broadband for all” but this level of investment could be what it’d take to get there. We should ensure the money gets spent well https://www.ncta.com/sites/default/files/2017-10/NCTA%20Issue%20Brief_%20DELIVERING%20BROADBAND%20TO%20ALL%20AMERICANS%20June%202017(PHOTO).pdf 39/x

I keep harping on this but part of the broadband problem is that we continue to spread our further and further. If we slow this spread, broadband for all becomes easier
40/x

$100 billion for schools. Okay. Good. 42/x

The last piece is $40 billion for transformational projects. I’m all for transformational projects but this is going to fund, like 10 projects maybe. A transformative regional rail network would probably cost $10 billion alone. We need more money here 43/x

That’s pretty much it. The conclusion goes on about jobs, economic development, revitalization, and entrepreneurship. This pretty much sums up the frame that I think Biden has on transportation and infrastructure - they serve the economy, not necessarily the people. 44/x

So, there we have it. It’s a plan that has some good stuff but in a lot of ways is lacking. I’d like to see a bigger push for public transit and active transportation along with a recognition that we can’t continue to expand outward. I want less funding for EVs. 45/x

This is not a bold plan. But I can guarantee that it is better than the alternative. I also believe that Biden is open to being pushed on these things, and that’s what I plan to do. I’m going to advocate for better policies and I hope Biden’s campaign will listen. 46/x

I hope everyone is staying healthy. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and working with you all to help make our places better once we get through this pandemic. In the meantime, stay safe and keep pushing Biden to move toward better positions! 47/47