Last week, after the 2016 State of the Union address in which President Obama touted the potential power of American innovation to solve pressing challenges, I went to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit and saw powerful demonstrations of that potential.

I’m not the only one from the Administration who caught a glimpse of the future at NAIAS Detroit; yesterday, President Obama went to Detroit to learn more about the promising automotive technologies on display and to celebrate the revitalization of U.S. automakers.

As I wrote here after my visit, the automated vehicle technologies being developed by automakers will go a long way toward solving the problems of driver-error vehicle crashes and congested roadways.  And I announced that DOT will do what we can to help. We will redefine regulations to enable innovative technology, establish standards to ensure vehicle safety, partner with states on model state legislation to prevent a patchwork of approaches that would frustrate innovation, and update our national rules of the road to incorporate autonomous vehicles.

The President’s bold proposal to invest $4 billion to support deployment of these technologies in the vehicles Americans drive will help speed this promising innovation.

Of course, it’s not the first time President Obama has supported a bold investment in the auto industry. In his first few months in office, the President made the tough call to provide temporary Federal assistance to rescue the American auto industry.

At the time, American automakers had already shed more than 400,000 jobs, with GM and Chrysler on the brink of failure and facing possible liquidation. A million more American jobs were at risk across the automotive supply chain. Yet, many in Washington opposed providing government assistance.

Because he acted boldly, the American auto industry avoided a deeper collapse. In fact, due to that support and an economy that has grown steadily and added millions of jobs, American automakers returned to profitability, became more competitive, and served as engines for growth, leading a nationwide manufacturing recovery. By the end of 2014, the Administration exited the last investment under the auto rescue. Every dime of the funds provided by the Obama Administration had been repaid. In 2015, U.S. auto sales reached an all-time high.

And, because the President required the auto industry to modernize as a condition of Federal support, we are now seeing the vehicles of the future that will help us meet our transportation challenges. One automaker recently announced they sought more patents for breakthrough technologies last year than they had in the last 100 years.

In Detroit yesterday, President Obama saw firsthand the fruits of his bold actions.

He didn’t just see a resurgent auto industry; he also saw a resurgent Detroit. I’m proud to know that this Department played a role in that resurgence by helping the region’s residents gain new access to the region’s new opportunities.

With the support of a $25 million DOT grant, Detroit purchased 80 new buses. Now, for the first time in decades, the city can meet its full bus schedule. There are now 192 buses on the road daily –the most in more than 20 years. Ridership has doubled since adding the buses last year, while customer service complaints are down 20 percent.

We also provided more than $25 million in TIGER grants for the new M-1 Rail connecting the Downtown and Mid-Town corridors.  Part of that funding involved creation of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), a long-sought goal of area transportation planners.

The value of automotive innovation extends beyond the direct impact it has on transportation.  We’re talking about new jobs, a newly trained workforce, and new opportunities up and down the supply chain for manufacturers.

I can’t say exactly what the President saw yesterday in Detroit, but if it’s anything like what I saw last week, he should be proud of this Administration’s support for the Motor City.