A $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package signed into law November 15, 2021. The provision drawing the most public discussion today is Section 24220, which directs federal regulators to require new passenger vehicles to include technology that can passively detect impaired driving and prevent the vehicle from operating if the driver is impaired. The law also funds the largest physical-infrastructure investment in a generation across roads, bridges, transit, rail, broadband, water, and EV charging.
1. Section 24220 directs NHTSA to require new passenger vehicles to include advanced impaired-driving prevention technology that passively detects driver impairment and prevents the vehicle from operating if the driver is impaired. 2. $110B for roads, bridges, and major projects, the largest dedicated bridge investment since the Interstate system. 3. $65B to expand high-speed broadband to underserved areas and subsidize service for low-income households. 4. $55B for water infrastructure, including $15B specifically targeted at lead service line replacement. 5. $66B for passenger and freight rail (largest investment since Amtrak's founding) and $39B to modernize public transit. 6. $7.5B to build a national network of EV charging stations along highway corridors.
Drivers (new vehicle requirements as the federal rule takes effect later this decade), commuters using roads, transit, and rail, residents of areas getting broadband expansion or lead-pipe replacement, and EV drivers gaining access to a national charging network.