Infrastructure is More than Roads and Bridges
The Claim
Infrastructure only comprises of roads and bridges.
News posted on
Emerging story
On Wednesday, March 31, 2021, President Joe Biden presented the American Jobs Plan, described as a $2 trillion infrastructure package. Many responded by saying that only a very small portion goes to infrastructure. In particular, America’s Newsroom co-host Bill Hemmer said, "We crunched the numbers and we've found that 5.5 percent — well 5.6 percent — of the $2 trillion proposal is only dedicated to roads and bridges.” In context, this implies that infrastructure only includes roads and bridges.
Many took to social media to discuss what exactly infrastructure is.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that traditional infrastructure includes roads, bridges, rails, transit, airports, ports, and power grids.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg responded to Hemmer by saying, “Well, we’re talking about roads and bridges, we’re talking about rails and transit, we’re talking about airports and ports.”
The American Jobs Plan would invest $115 billion in fixing roads and bridges, $174 billion on electric vehicles (including vehicle stations), $85 billion on modernizing transit systems, and $80 billion on Amtrak repairs. It would spend $650 billion on houses, school buildings, underground water infrastructure, and broadband expansion. It would spend $400 billion on caregivers for the elderly and disabled. Finally, it would spend $300 billion on research, development, and manufacturing.
Even if some believe that electric vehicles and schools do not constitute infrastructure, about half of the bill goes directly towards traditional infrastructure: building or repairing roads, bridges, rails, transit, airports, ports, and power grids.
Since infrastructure comprises more than roads and bridges, we rate this claim as false.
