Larry Willis

One hundred billion dollars is a lot of money. With that much cash you could buy four Starbucks lattes for every living human on the planet. (That’s 33 billion lattes in total, if you’re counting). If coffee is not really your thing, consider buying every single NFL team three times over. Don’t like sports? You and the record-holding Powerball winner can compare piles of cash and together marvel at how yours is 63 times taller.

By recognizing social and economic justice as one and the same, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood the immense power working people have when they come together. He saw union representation as the clearest path out of poverty and into the middle class, and fought for the rights of all people to have good jobs and a voice at work.

On the campaign trail and as president, Donald Trump has continually shined a spotlight on America’s growing transportation and broader infrastructure crisis—and promised to do something about it. Now, as he prepares for his first State of the Union address, the president is expected to once again push his vision for rebuilding America.

For millions of Americans, a combination of public transit and commuter options aren’t just alternatives to the office carpool—they are lifelines to economic stability.