A total of 58 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including the Congressional Black Caucus, recently sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging the agency to support a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) program within the Federal Railroad Administration.
DBE programs increase the participation of minority and women-owned businesses in federally-funded state and local transportation projects.
Establishing a DBE program in the agency would be a step toward rectifying historic discrimination against DBEs in the rail industry, the letter said, and would level the playing field for all qualified businesses seeking federally-funded transportation contracts.
Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, the department is required to complete a disparity study of publicly-funded intercity rail passenger transportation projects. This is necessary before a DBE program can be established.
“Shamefully, it has been nearly six years since the enactment of that legislation, and the study has yet to be completed due to various delays and obstruction by the previous administration,” the letter said. “It is now estimated that the study will be complete by the end of 2021. Any further delay would be unacceptable and allow ongoing discrimination against DBEs to continue unabated and unprioritized by the federal government.”