U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took an afternoon Brightline train from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday to help underscore the Biden Administration’s efforts to fund improvements at airports, seaports, rail lines, and roadways in Florida and elsewhere around the nation. The ride came after the secretary delivered a speech about the state of transportation nationally at The Forum Club of the Palm Beaches at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. In his speech, he mentioned the economic and logistical sense of using Brightline in this regional segment. Buttigieg has been among various Biden Administration officials who have toured the country publicizing the benefits of billions generated from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was passed by Congress in 2021. Millions of federal dollars have been directed under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law toward the safety improvements along the Florida East Coast Railway line, which is used by Brightline. For all of the local officials, a meeting with Buttigieg loomed as an opportunity to make a pitch for funds for a proposed local commuter rail service along the Florida East Coast Railway line that has been under study for years by the Florida Department of Transportation and is gaining political traction in Miami-Dade and Broward.
