BOSTON -- Advocates for better transportation policy say President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan could go a long way toward not only fixing roads and bridges but making streets safer and greener.

The American Jobs Plan would provide more than $2 trillion over eight years for infrastructure, from drinking-water systems to broadband access and the power grid, as well as roads, bridges and public transit systems.

Chris Dempsey, director of the Transportation For Massachusetts Advocacy Coalition, said the Commonwealth has one of the worst-performing transportation systems in the country.

"We have structurally deficient bridges; we have transit systems that break down and don't get people where they need to go," Dempsey outlined. "Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions of any sector of our economy."

Air pollution from transportation leads to public health issues, most often in low-income and Black, Brown and Indigenous communities.

Dempsey pointed out the plan has incentives for electric vehicles and more charging stations, as well as funds to modernize public transit.

Dempsey noted there are many projects the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or regional transit authorities could take up, as well as a potential intercity rail service between Boston, Worcester and Springfield.

And Amtrak revealed a plan to expand and enhance its service throughout the Northeast, from Boston to Albany, New York, to Hartford, Connecticut, as well as up through Vermont to Montreal.

"Those rail projects can be challenging, and they can be expensive," Dempsey acknowledged. "But those types of projects get into the mix and into the conversation when you have the scale of investment, the billions of dollars of investment that President Biden is proposing."

Dempsey noted road safety, such as improving sidewalks and adding bike lanes, is another emphasis of the plan. He added far too many cyclists and pedestrians are killed or injured in automobile accidents, and investments are long overdue.


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President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law will disburse up to $239 million to help Georgia improve the resilience of transportation infrastructure. Environmental groups are urging state leaders to focus on rural communities, beyond Atlanta.

Severe weather events in recent years, such as flooding in the southeastern part of the state and Hurricane Zeta, are evidence enough that infrastructure funding should include climate preparedness, said Marsha Gosier, a Georgia organizer for the EDF Action Fund, part of the Environmental Defense Fund. She said she's most concerned about rural and coastal areas.

"Our submerging lowlands throughout Georgia, the coastal flooding that could occur in particular areas like Hudson Hill and Savannah, Georgia," she said, "money should definitely be placed for that in preparation, making sure that those communities are prepared."

Before the federal dollars were released, Republicans bristled over restrictions. They wanted more flexibility for using the funding, instead of the Biden administration's focus on improving existing infrastructure over creating new.

The Atlanta Regional Commission is set to host the Connect ATL summit on Aug. 23 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. The topic will be making the city's transportation network smarter, better connected and electric.

Gosier said she'd like to see the kind of focus happening in Atlanta in more rural areas, and is calling on state leaders to support local towns and counties to be just as innovative. But, she quipped, many rural Georgians also need the basics - such as clean running water - as well as electric-vehicle charging stations.

"When we think about lead pipes needing to be replaced in communities, it's not just impacting Flint, Michigan," she said. "This is something that is an issue all throughout the state of Georgia, and especially in rural areas."

The new PROTECT Formula program funding - short for Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation - is available to states over five years. The Atlanta Regional Commission plans to use its $45 million to pay for electric buses and charging stations, upgrades to transit infrastructure in Cobb and Clayton counties, and road improvements.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are an economical and environmentally friendly way to get from Point A to Point B, but the lack of charging stations often limits drivers to short trips.

It could soon change, as the West Electric Highway program aims to install fast-charging stations every 50 miles along rural highways in Utah and other Western states. The project is funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law approved by Congress last year.

Tammie Bostick, executive director of the Utah Clean Cities Coalition, the lead agency on the project, said the ChargeWest network will take the worry out of driving an EV across the state.

"When we look at Charge West, it's an opportunity for us to imagine electrified transportation fully and to know that we can travel, with range confidence, to our destinations and be able to return," Bostick explained.

Other participating states include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. Bostick pointed out the programs is the first of its type, and hopes it will be a model for other states to follow.

The West Electric Highway program is backed by a coalition of local and state governments, environmental groups and tourism officials.

Bostick emphasized it will particularly benefit Utah's vacation destinations.

"Secondary highways, the scenic highways, the places that lead us to the places that we travel to, which are our national parks, our monuments, our state parks, our recreation areas," Bostick outlined.

Bostick added a major challenge to building the West Electric Highway system is a lack of electrical infrastructure needed to power fast-charging stations in many of the rural areas.

"So that could be building out their existing electrical system, but also to plan for off-grid system systems that are stand alone, that run on solar, that really don't need a large infrastructure to be available," Bostick explained.

The West Electric Highway program is one of the first fast-charging projects approved from the $2.5 billion allocated for projects under the National Electric Vehicle Charging Network.

Connecticut residents can expect to see a sharp increase in diesel fuel prices starting July 1, and trucking companies say it will be passed on to consumers.

The increase of 9 cents per gallon is based on an annual adjustment set by the Department of Revenue Services. Although the state has suspended the gas tax through December, prices continue to rise because of inflation and the price of crude oil.

Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association, which represents grocery retailers and distribution suppliers in the state, said it will lead to more people having to make difficult choices.

"Some of the things we're seeing," he said, "is consumers are trading off both beef and pork - and even poultry, in some instances - and they're eating a lot more rice and pasta, because they're making decisions based on how much income they have to spend on food."

Diesel, the main fuel source for most commercial trucks, also produces emissions harmful to health, including ground-level ozone and particulate matter. As of Wednesday, the average price of diesel in Connecticut was $6.17, 40-cents above the national average.

On top of the July increase, the state also will implement a highway use tax on large commercial trucks starting in January. Michael Fox, executive director of the Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers of America, which represents hundreds of independently owned gas stations in the state, said suspending the current diesel tax of slightly more than 40 cents per gallon could help Connecticut residents afford basic needs.

"They can also suspend the increase scheduled for July 1," he said. "With over $900 million in budget surplus money, the state can afford to do this. That would be immediate relief for every consumer in the state of Connecticut."

Earlier this month, Gov. Ned Lamont and other state officials announced a diesel fuel tax exemption for farmers and agricultural producers. Fox said they're also calling for suspending the highway use tax, which is based on vehicle weight and ranges from 2.5 cents to 17.5 cents per mile.