The country’s Transport Minister, Pete Buttigieg noted that the ongoing mass vaccination of the population against coronavirus helped to turn the situation around.
The US transportation system is gradually returning to normal operation, which was disrupted due to the pandemic. This was stated on the ABC TV channel by US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
“I’m glad to see America moving again,” he said. “We are recovering from perhaps the most serious shock that the modern American transportation system has ever experienced in terms of changing demand [for transportation] and schedules,” the head of the department added. “The system is back to work,” the minister stressed, noting that the ongoing mass vaccination of the country’s population against coronavirus helped to turn the situation around.
Buttigieg urged fellow citizens to continue wearing masks when they are onboard passenger planes.
The minister also noted that in the consultations between the current US administration and Republican lawmakers on budget proposals for the 2022 fiscal year related to infrastructure modernization, there is “movement in the right direction.” The White House proposes to allocate at least $1.7 trillion for these needs. Republicans insist that this amount should not exceed $928 billion. Buttigieg expressed hope that the parties will be able to reach an agreement. According to Johns Hopkins University, which conducts calculations based on information from federal and local authorities, more than 33.2 million cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, and more than 594 thousand people have died. The country ranks first in the world in both indicators.
