Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson introducing Secretary Pete Buttigieg to Dallas Voice. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg toured DFW Airport and rode DART to a press conference at Lovers Lane Station today (Wednesday, Aug. 11) when he was in town for a press conference regarding the infrastructure legislation just approved by the U.S. Senate. He was accompanied on his visit by U.S. Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson and Colin Allred, both of whom represent districts in DFW.
During his time in office, Allred has been working on infrastructure legislation, and Johnson is chair of the Science and Technology committee. During the press conference today, Johnson said getting reliable Internet throughout South Dallas was a priority.
Buttigieg said Dallas and the DFW area stand to be one of the biggest benefactors of the infrastructure bill that passed the U.S. Senate this week. In addition to improving and expanding DART, he said he expects money to improve highways and funds to keep DFW International as one of the top airports in the country.
“We can do good things together,” Allred said touting a partnership between local and federal government. He said part of the infrastructure plan will help us reduce our carbon footprint in North Texas. “This is a big deal for us. I wish our senators [John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both Republicans] would have supported this.”
The transportation secretary said he hopes the public transportation portion of the money allows more and more people to leave their cars at home, saying that every time you go out or to work, you shouldn’t have “to drag two tons of metal along with you.”
The press conference was short, and Buttigieg was leaving Dallas for his next stop touting the infrastructure bill in Las Vegas.
— David Taffet
