Last week, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America tour, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Los Angeles, CA, where he joined community leaders and city officials to highlight a major milestone on a vital infrastructure project and review progress on other transportation projects in Southern California.

Secretary Buttigieg began his trip at the Port of Long Beach, where he joined Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, port leadership, and other local officials to break ground on the Pier B On-Dock Rail Project. The project has received over $1 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and aims to improve supply chain efficiency, lower consumer costs, and reduce air pollution by moving more goods by rail rather than truck.

The Secretary then met with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and LA Metro leadership for a ride on the Metro E-line. They discussed how funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda will be used to improve transit stations and add multimodal transportation facilities across the city.

After a quick ride on the E-line, Secretary Buttigieg, Mayor Bass, and Metro leadership visited Exposition Park. There they toured the park, greeted metro workers, and met with leaders from the LA 2028 Olympic Host Committee. The Committee shared their plans for preparing the city’s transit system for the 2028 Olympics before joining Secretary Buttigieg for a press conference celebrating federal funding aimed at improving public transportation in Greater Los Angeles.

Secretary Buttigieg concluded his first day in Los Angeles with a visit to an LA Metro Bus Facility. He met with bus operators and mechanics and learned how a new $77 million grant from DOT will enable LA Metro to purchase electric buses for their transit system.

On his second day in California, after media interviews, Secretary Buttigieg reconvened with Metro leadership and local leaders to celebrate an award made possible by President Biden's Investing in America agenda. This award will fund a pedestrian and bicycle path over I-710 and Humphreys Avenue to help reconnect communities and increase safety.

ABC 7 Los Angeles reported that Karen Bass and Pete Buttigieg highlighted $77.5 million awarded to Metro for zero-emission bus projects. “The buses [are] cleaner; they're also quieter," said Buttigieg after a news conference outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

At another event covered by NBC 4 Los Angeles, Buttigieg pledged support for transportation projects ahead of the 2028 Olympics. Nearly $900 million in federal funding is designated for these initiatives.

During his visit to Long Beach reported by Beaumont Enterprise among others, Buttigieg participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for a $1.5 billion railyard expansion project aimed at fortifying the U.S. supply chain.

In various statements throughout his visit captured by multiple news outlets including Hoodline and Telemundo Los Angeles, Secretary Buttigieg emphasized that these infrastructure projects are crucial not only locally but nationally due to their impacts on reducing congestion, pollution, and costs.