II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 651 

To amend SAFETEA–LU to improve the Intelligent Transportation System 

Program Advisory Committee, to require information and resources for 

the development of local smart communities, to help establish a 21st 

century transportation workforce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2021 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend SAFETEA–LU to improve the Intelligent Transportation System Program Advisory Committee, to require information and resources for the development of 

local smart communities, to help establish a 21st century 

transportation workforce, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Transportation 

5 Advancement and Transition Act’’ or the ‘‘STAT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM PRO2 GRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

3 Section 5305 of SAFETEA–LU (23 U.S.C. 512 note; 

4 Public Law 109–59) is amended by striking subsection (h) 

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(h) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab8 lish an advisory committee (referred to in this sub9 section as the ‘Committee’) to advise the Secretary 

10 in carrying out this subtitle. 

11 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) be composed of not more than 25 

15 members; 

16 ‘‘(ii) be balanced between metropoli17 tan and rural interests; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) include, at a minimum— 

19 ‘‘(I) a representative of a State 

20 department of transportation; 

21 ‘‘(II) a representative of a local 

22 department of transportation (other 

23 than a metropolitan planning organi24 zation); 

25 ‘‘(III) a representative of a State, 

26 local, or regional transit agency; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) a representative of a met2 ropolitan planning organization; 

3 ‘‘(V) a representative of a na4 tional transit association; 

5 ‘‘(VI) a representative of a na6 tional, State, or local transportation 

7 agency or association; 

8 ‘‘(VII) a private sector user of in9 telligent transportation system tech10 nologies, including emerging vehicle 

11 technologies; 

12 ‘‘(VIII) a private sector developer 

13 of intelligent transportation system 

14 technologies, including emerging vehi15 cle technologies; 

16 ‘‘(IX) an academic researcher— 

17 ‘‘(aa) with expertise in com18 puter science or another informa19 tion science field related to intel20 ligent transportation systems; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(bb) who is not an expert 

23 on transportation issues; 


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1 ‘‘(X) an academic researcher in 

2 civil engineering or a civil engineering 

3 practitioner; 

4 ‘‘(XI) an academic researcher 

5 who is a social scientist with expertise 

6 in transportation issues; 

7 ‘‘(XII) an academic researcher 

8 with expertise in labor issues, includ9 ing— 

10 ‘‘(aa) disruptions due to 

11 technology; and 

12 ‘‘(bb) opportunities and bar13 riers related to transportation 

14 and the incorporation of emerg15 ing technology; 

16 ‘‘(XIII) a representative of a 

17 nonprofit group representing the intel18 ligent transportation system industry; 

19 ‘‘(XIV) a representative of a pub20 lic interest group concerned with safe21 ty, including bicycle and pedestrian 

22 interests; 

23 ‘‘(XV) a representative of a labor 

24 organization; 


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1 ‘‘(XVI) a representative of a mo2 bility-providing entity, including for 

3 seniors and people with disabilities; 

4 ‘‘(XVII) an expert in traffic man5 agement; 

6 ‘‘(XVIII) a representative of a 

7 public interest group concerned with 

8 the impact of the transportation sys9 tem on land use and residential pat10 terns, including housing availability; 

11 ‘‘(XIX) members with expertise 

12 in planning, safety, and operations; 

13 ‘‘(XX) a member with expertise 

14 in law enforcement; and 

15 ‘‘(XXI) a member with expertise 

16 in cybersecurity. 

17 ‘‘(B) TERM.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro19 vided in clause (ii), the term of a member 

20 of the Committee shall be 3 years. 

21 ‘‘(ii) STAGGERED TERMS.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Of the mem23 bers first appointed to the Com24 mittee— 


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‘‘(aa) 1 1 ⁄3 shall be appointed 

2 for a term of 1 year; 

‘‘(bb) 1 3 ⁄3 shall be appointed 

4 for a term of 2 years; and 

‘‘(cc) 1 5 ⁄3 shall be appointed 

6 for a term of 3 years. 

7 ‘‘(II) TIMING.—The terms de8 scribed in subclause (I) shall not 

9 begin until the last member of the 

10 members referred to in that subclause 

11 is appointed. 

12 ‘‘(iii) RENEWAL.—On expiration of 

13 the term of a member of the Committee, 

14 the member— 

15 ‘‘(I) may be reappointed; and 

16 ‘‘(II) if the member is not re17 appointed under subclause (I), may 

18 serve until a new member is ap19 pointed. 

20 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Committee shall, at a min21 imum— 

22 ‘‘(A) provide input into the development of 

23 the intelligent transportation system aspects of 

24 the 5-year strategic plan under section 6503 of 

25 title 49, United States Code; 


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1 ‘‘(B) annually review areas of intelligent 

2 transportation systems programs and research 

3 being considered for funding by the Depart4 ment, to determine— 

5 ‘‘(i) whether those areas of research 

6 are likely to advance the state of the prac7 tice or state of the art in intelligent trans8 portation systems; 

9 ‘‘(ii) whether intelligent transportation 

10 system technologies are likely to be de11 ployed by users, and if not, to determine 

12 the barriers to deployment; 

13 ‘‘(iii) the appropriate roles for govern14 ment and the private sector in investing in 

15 the research and technologies being consid16 ered; 

17 ‘‘(iv) how Federal resources, especially 

18 resources provided by the Department, are 

19 being utilized to advance intelligent trans20 portation systems; and 

21 ‘‘(v) how the Department is engaging 

22 and supporting local communities in the 

23 adoption and integration of intelligent 

24 transportation systems across all modes; 


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1 ‘‘(C) help develop and revise the resource 

2 guide described in section 4(b) of the Smart 

3 Transportation Advancement and Transition 

4 Act; and 

5 ‘‘(D) through the appropriate office of the 

6 Department, help respond to requests for as7 sistance, advice, or consultation from States 

8 and local communities as a result of the re9 source guide described in section 4(b) of the 

10 Smart Transportation Advancement and Tran11 sition Act. 

12 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Committee— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall convene not less frequently than 

14 twice each year; and 

15 ‘‘(B) may convene with the use of remote 

16 video conference technology. 

17 ‘‘(5) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may provide 

18 to the Committee personnel or expertise from the 

19 Department to assist the Committee in carrying out 

20 the duties of the Committee. 

21 ‘‘(6) REPORT.—Not later than February 1 of 

22 each year beginning after the date of enactment of 

23 the Smart Transportation Advancement and Transi24 tion Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Commit25 tees on Appropriations, Commerce, Science, and 


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1 Transportation, and Environment and Public Works 

2 of the Senate and the Committees on Appropriations 

3 and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

4 of Representatives a report that includes— 

5 ‘‘(A) the recommendations made by the 

6 Committee during the preceding calendar year; 

7 ‘‘(B) an explanation of how the Secretary 

8 has implemented those recommendations; and 

9 ‘‘(C) for any recommendation not imple10 mented, an explanation of the reasons for not 

11 implementing the recommendation. 

12 ‘‘(7) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY

13 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Committee shall be subject 

14 to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

15 App.).’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REPORT ON LOCAL ENGAGEMENT. 

17 Not later than 150 days after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of 

19 Transportation, in coordination with the advisory com20 mittee established under section 5305(h) of SAFETEA– 

21 LU (23 U.S.C. 512 note; Public Law 109–59), shall sub22 mit to the Committees on Appropriations, Commerce, 

23 Science, and Transportation, and Environment and Public 

24 Works of the Senate and the Committees on Appropria25 tions and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 


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1 of Representatives a report on efforts by the Department 

2 of Transportation to engage with local communities, met3 ropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation 

4 commissions, and multijurisdictional groups, including in 

5 rural areas, on advancing data and intelligent transpor6 tation systems technologies and other smart cities solu7 tions. 

8 SEC. 4. SMART COMMUNITY RESOURCE GUIDE. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘advi11 sory committee’’ means the advisory committee es12 tablished under section 5305(h) of SAFETEA–LU 

13 (23 U.S.C. 512 note; Public Law 109–59). 

14 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Transportation. 

16 (3) SMART COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘smart 

17 community’’ means a community that uses innova18 tive technologies, data, analytics, and other means to 

19 improve the community and address local challenges. 

20 (4) SMART COMMUNITY RESOURCE GUIDE.— 

21 The term ‘‘smart community resource guide’’ means 

22 the resource guide created, published, and main23 tained under subsection (b). 

24 (b) RESOURCE GUIDE.—The Secretary, in consulta25 tion with the advisory committee, shall create, publish, 


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1 and maintain a resource guide that is designed to assist 

2 States and local communities in developing and imple3 menting intelligent transportation technology or smart 

4 community transportation programs. 

5 (c) INCLUSIONS.—The smart community resource 

6 guide may include— 

7 (1) a compilation of existing related Federal 

8 and non-Federal programs that are available to 

9 States and local communities in developing and im10 plementing smart community transportation pro11 grams, including technical assistance, education, 

12 training, research and development, analysis, and 

13 funding; 

14 (2) available examples of States and local com15 munities engaging private sector entities to carry out 

16 smart community transportation solutions, including 

17 public-private partnership models that could be used 

18 to leverage private sector funding to solve local chal19 lenges; 

20 (3) available examples of proven methods for 

21 States and local communities to facilitate the inte22 gration of smart community transportation tech23 nologies with, or within, new and existing infrastruc24 ture and systems; 


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1 (4) best practices and lessons learned from 

2 smart community transportation demonstration 

3 projects, including information on return on invest4 ment and performance, to help other States and 

5 local communities to decide how to begin the inte6 gration of smart community transportation tech7 nologies; and 

8 (5) other topics— 

9 (A) as requested by industry entities, 

10 States, or local governments; or 

11 (B) as determined to be necessary by the 

12 Secretary and the advisory committee. 

13 (d) USE OF EXISTING GUIDES.—In creating, pub14 lishing, and maintaining the smart community resource 

15 guide, the Secretary shall consider existing Federal, State, 

16 and local community information, guides, and other re17 sources that relate to smart community transportation 

18 goals, activities, and best practices— 

19 (1) to prevent duplication of efforts by the Fed20 eral Government; 

21 (2) to improve local accessibility to Federal pro22 grams; and 

23 (3) to leverage existing, complementary efforts. 

24 (e) OUTREACH.—The Secretary, with input from the 

25 advisory committee at the determination of the Secretary, 


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1 shall conduct outreach to States, counties, local commu2 nities, and other relevant entities— 

3 (1) to provide interested stakeholders with the 

4 smart community resource guide, including through 

5 publication of the guide on the internet; 

6 (2) to promote the consideration of smart com7 munity transportation technologies; 

8 (3) to encourage States and local governments 

9 to contribute smart community transportation pro10 gram and activity information to the smart commu11 nity resource guide; 

12 (4) to identify— 

13 (A) barriers to the adoption of smart com14 munity transportation technologies; and 

15 (B) any research, development, and other 

16 assistance that is needed that could be included 

17 in the smart community resource guide; and 

18 (5) for other purposes, as identified by the Sec19 retary or the advisory committee. 

20 (f) REVISION.—The Secretary and the advisory com21 mittee shall issue a revised smart community resource 

22 guide not less frequently than once every 3 years. 

Æ 


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