I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3551

To authorize appropriations to the Department of Transportation for surface 

transportation research and development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2003

Mr. EHLERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To authorize appropriations to the Department of Transportation for surface transportation research and development, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Surface Transportation Research and Development Act 

6 of 2003’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows:
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

TITLE I—SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH 

Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 102. Goals, principles, and processes. 

Sec. 103. Transportation research and development strategic planning and annual reporting. 

Sec. 104. Surface transportation research and development. 

Sec. 105. Technology deployment. 

Sec. 106. Training and education. 

Sec. 107. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 

Sec. 108. State planning and research. 

Sec. 109. Future Strategic Highway Research Program. 

Sec. 110. University Transportation Centers. 

Sec. 111. Intelligent Transportation systems. 

Sec. 112. National Multimodal Trends Research Program. 

TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 201. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 202. Transit research. 

Sec. 203. National Transit Institute. 

Sec. 204. Human resource programs. 

Sec. 205. Highway safety research and development. 

Sec. 206. Motor carrier research and technology program. 

Sec. 207. Transportation, energy, and environment. 

Sec. 208. National Cooperative Freight Transportation Research Program. 

Sec. 209. Next Generation National Transportation Policy Study Commission. 

Sec. 210. Real-time system management information program. 

Sec. 211. Planning capacity building initiative.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Research and development is critical to de4 veloping and maintaining a transportation system 

5 that meets the goals of safety, mobility, economic vi6 tality, efficiency, equity, and environmental protec7 tion. 

8 (2) Federally sponsored surface transportation 

9 research and development has produced many suc10 cesses. The development of rumble strips has in11 creased safety; research on materials has increased 
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1 the lifespan of pavements, saving money and reduc2 ing the disruption caused by construction; and Geo3 graphic Information Systems have improved the 

4 management and efficiency of transit fleets. 

5 (3) Despite these important successes, the Fed6 eral surface transportation research and develop7 ment investment represents only about 0.5 percent 

8 of overall government spending on surface transpor9 tation. 

10 (4) While Congress increased funding for over11 all transportation programs by about 40 percent in 

12 the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, 

13 funding for transportation research and development 

14 remained relatively flat. 

15 (5) The Federal investment in research and de16 velopment should be balanced between short-term 

17 applied and long-term fundamental research and de18 velopment. The investment should also cover a wide 

19 range of research areas, including research on mate20 rials and construction, research on operations, re21 search on transportation trends and human factors, 

22 and research addressing the institutional barriers to 

23 deployment of new technologies. 

24 (6) Therefore, Congress finds that it is in the 

25 United States interest to increase the Federal in-
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1 vestment in transportation research and develop2 ment, and to conduct research in critical research 

3 gaps, in order to ensure that the transportation sys4 tem meets the goals of safety, mobility, economic vi5 tality, efficiency, equity, and environmental protec6 tion. 

7 TITLE I—SURFACE 

8 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH 

9 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—

11 (1) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH, DE12 VELOPMENT, AND DEPLOYMENT.—To carry out sec13 tions 502, 503, 506, 507, and 509 of title 23, 

14 United States Code, and section 112 of this Act, re15 lating to research and development, there are au16 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

17 Transportation the following: 

18 (A) $228,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, of 

19 which—

20 (i) $15,000,000 shall be set aside to 

21 carry out the Surface Transportation Envi22 ronment and Planning Cooperative Re23 search Program under section 507 of title 

24 23, United States Code; 
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1 (ii) $7,000,000 shall be set aside to 

2 carry out advanced exploratory research 

3 under section 502(d) of title 23, United 

4 States Code; and 

5 (iii) $5,000,000 shall be set aside to 

6 carry out the National Multimodal Trends 

7 Research Progam under section 112 of this 

8 Act. 

9 (B) $272,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, of 

10 which—

11 (i) $15,000,000 shall be set aside to 

12 carry out the Surface Transportation Envi13 ronment and Planning Cooperative Re14 search Program under section 507 of title 

15 23, United States Code; 

16 (ii) $10,000,000 shall be set aside to 

17 carry out research under section 502(d) of 

18 title 23, United States Code; and 

19 (iii) $5,000,000 shall be set aside to 

20 carry out research under section 112 of 

21 this Act. 

22 (C) $316,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, of 

23 which—

24 (i) $20,000,000 shall be set aside to 

25 carry out the Surface Transportation Envi-
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1 ronment and Planning Cooperative Re2 search Program under section 507 of title 

3 23, United States Code; 

4 (ii) $15,000,000 shall be set aside to 

5 carry out research under section 502(d) of 

6 title 23, United States Code; and 

7 (iii) $5,000,000 shall be set aside to 

8 carry out research under section 112 of 

9 this Act. 

10 (D) $367,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, of 

11 which—

12 (i) $20,000,000 shall be set aside to 

13 carry out the Surface Transportation Envi14 ronment and Planning Cooperative Re15 search Program under section 507 of title 

16 23, United States Code; 

17 (ii) $15,000,000 shall be set aside to 

18 carry out research under section 502(d) of 

19 title 23, United States Code; and 

20 (iii) $5,000,000 shall be set aside to 

21 carry out research under section 112 of 

22 this Act.

23 (E) $423,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, of 

24 which—
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1 (i) $30,000,000 shall be set aside to 

2 carry out the Surface Transportation Envi3 ronment and Planning Cooperative Re4 search Program under section 507 of title 

5 23, United States Code; 

6 (ii) $15,000,000 shall be set aside to 

7 carry out research under section 502(d) of 

8 title 23, United States Code; and 

9 (iii) $5,000,000 shall be set aside to 

10 carry out research under section 112 of 

11 this Act. 

12 (F) $490,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, of 

13 which—

14 (i) $30,000,000 shall be set aside to 

15 carry out the Surface Transportation Envi16 ronment and Planning Cooperative Re17 search Program under section 507 of title 

18 23, United States Code; 

19 (ii) $15,000,000 shall be set aside to 

20 carry out research under section 502(d) of 

21 title 23, United States Code; and 

22 (iii) $5,000,000 shall be set aside to 

23 carry out research under section 112 of 

24 this Act. 
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1 (2) TRAINING AND EDUCATION.—To carry out 

2 section 504 of title 23, United States Code, there 

3 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

4 of Transportation the following: 

5 (A) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2004. 

6 (B) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2005. 

7 (C) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

8 (D) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 

9 (E) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

10 (F) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

11 (3) BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATIS12 TICS.—For the Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

13 to carry out section 111 of title 49, United States 

14 Code, there are authorized to be appropriated to the 

15 Secretary of Transportation the following: 

16 (A) $36,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, of 

17 which $5,000,000 shall be set aside for research 

18 and development grants under subsection 

19 (k)(1)(B) of such section. 

20 (B) $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, of 

21 which $5,000,000 shall be set aside for research 

22 and development grants under subsection 

23 (k)(1)(B) of such section. 

24 (C) $38,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, of 

25 which $5,000,000 shall be set aside for research 
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1 and development grants under subsection 

2 (k)(1)(B) of such section. 

3 (D) $43,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, of 

4 which $5,000,000 shall be set aside for research 

5 and development grants under subsection 

6 (k)(1)(B) of such section. 

7 (E) $47,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, of 

8 which $5,000,000 shall be set aside for research 

9 and development grants under subsection 

10 (k)(1)(B) of such section. 

11 (F) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, of 

12 which $5,000,000 shall be set aside for research 

13 and development grants under subsection 

14 (k)(1)(B) of such section. 

15 (4) UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION RE16 SEARCH.—For carrying out section 5505 of title 49, 

17 United States Code, there are authorized to be ap18 propriated to the Secretary of Transportation the 

19 following: 

20 (A) $56,000,000 for fiscal year 2004. 

21 (B) $66,000,000 for fiscal year 2005. 

22 (C) $76,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

23 (D) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 

24 (E) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

25 (F) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 
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1 (5) INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

2 RESEARCH.—For carrying out the Intelligent Trans3 portation Systems Act of 2003, there are authorized 

4 to be appropriated to the Secretary of Transpor5 tation the following: 

6 (A) $130,000,000 for fiscal year 2004. 

7 (B) $135,000,000 for fiscal year 2005. 

8 (C) $140,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

9 (D) $140,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 

10 (E) $145,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

11 (F) $145,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

12 (b) COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP13 MENT.—Section 502(b) of title 23, United States Code, 

14 is amended—

15 (1) by striking paragraph (3); and 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 

17 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively. 

18 SEC. 102. GOALS, PRINCIPLES, AND PROCESSES. 

19 (a) GOALS.—The Federal Government shall support 

20 surface transportation research in order to support the 

21 goals established for the surface transportation system as 

22 set forth in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st 

23 Century, including supporting economic vitality, improving 

24 safety and security, increasing mobility, protecting and en25 hancing the environment, improving integration between 
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1 modes of transportation, promoting efficiency, and empha2 sizing the preservation of the existing transportation sys3 tem. 

4 (b) BASIC PRINCIPLES GOVERNING RESEARCH AND

5 DEVELOPMENT.—

6 (1) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Funding and 

7 conducting surface transportation research and de8 velopment and technology transfer activities shall be 

9 the responsibility of the Federal Government when—

10 (A) the work is of national significance; 

11 (B) it supports research in which there is 

12 a clear public benefit, and private sector invest13 ment is less than optimal due to market failure; 

14 (C) it supports critical research that is not 

15 otherwise being conducted by the public or pri16 vate sector; 

17 (D) it supports a Federal stewardship role 

18 in ensuring that State and local governments 

19 use national resources efficiently; or 

20 (E) it presents the best means to support 

21 Federal policy goals compared to other policy 

22 alternatives. 

23 (2) ROLE.—Consistent with these Federal re24 sponsibilities, the Secretary of Transportation 

25 shall—
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1 (A) conduct research; 

2 (B) support and facilitate research and de3 velopment and technology transfer activities by 

4 State highway agencies, metropolitan planning 

5 organizations, and local governments; 

6 (C) share results of completed research; 

7 and 

8 (D) support and facilitate technology and 

9 innovation deployment. 

10 (3) PROGRAM CONTENT.—The surface trans11 portation research and development program shall 

12 include—

13 (A) fundamental, long-term research; 

14 (B) research aimed at significant research 

15 gaps, and emerging issues with national impli16 cations; and 

17 (C) research related to policy and plan18 ning. 

19 (c) PROCESSES.—

20 (1) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—Federally spon21 sored surface transportation research and develop22 ment activities shall address the needs of partners 

23 and stakeholders. Stakeholders include users of re24 search (such as States, metropolitan planning orga25 nizations, local governments, and the private sector), 
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1 researchers, research sponsors, and other affected 

2 parties, including public interest groups. Stake3 holders shall be included at every level of research 

4 including strategic planning, agenda setting, and 

5 program evaluation. The Secretary shall expand the 

6 range and diversity of stakeholders engaged in the 

7 process. 

8 (2) COMPETITION AND PEER REVIEW.—All par9 ties entering into contracts or cooperative agree10 ments with the Secretary, or receiving grants, to 

11 perform research and development activities or pro12 vide technical assistance under this Act shall be se13 lected on a competitive basis, and on the basis of the 

14 results of peer review of proposals submitted to the 

15 Secretary. 

16 (3) PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND EVALUA17 TION.—All surface transportation research and de18 velopment projects shall include a component of per19 formance measurement and evaluation. Performance 

20 measures shall be established during the proposal 

21 stage of a research project and shall, to the max22 imum extent possible, be outcome-based. All evalua23 tions shall be made readily available to the public. 

24 The results of all surface transportation research 
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1 and development funded under this Act shall be peer 

2 reviewed. 

3 SEC. 103. TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOP4 MENT STRATEGIC PLANNING AND ANNUAL 

5 REPORTING. 

6 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 508 of title 23, United 

7 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘§ 508. Transportation research and development 

9 strategic planning and annual reporting 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall—

11 ‘‘(1) establish a strategic planning process, con12 sistent with section 306 of title 5 for the Depart13 ment of Transportation to determine national trans14 portation research and development priorities; 

15 ‘‘(2) set national transportation strategic goals 

16 and research and development priorities; 

17 ‘‘(3) coordinate Federal transportation research 

18 and development activities; 

19 ‘‘(4) measure the results of those activities and 

20 how they impact the performance of the transpor21 tation systems of the United States; and 

22 ‘‘(5) ensure that planning and reporting activi23 ties carried out under this section are coordinated 

24 with all other transportation planning and reporting 

25 requirements. 
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1 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall—

2 ‘‘(1) provide for the integrated planning, coordi3 nation, and consultation among the operating ad4 ministrations of the Department of Transportation, 

5 including the aviation, transit, and rail operating ad6 ministrations, all other Federal agencies with re7 sponsibility for surface transportation research and 

8 technology development, State and local govern9 ments, institutions of higher education, industry, 

10 and other private and public sector organizations en11 gaged in surface transportation-related research and 

12 development activities; 

13 ‘‘(2) ensure that the transportation research 

14 and development programs of the Department do 

15 not duplicate other Federal, State, or private sector 

16 research and development programs; and 

17 ‘‘(3) provide for independent validation of the 

18 scientific and technical assumptions underlying the 

19 transportation research and development programs 

20 of the Department. 

21 ‘‘(c) TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOP22 MENT STRATEGIC PLAN.—

23 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of enactment of the Surface Transpor25 tation Research and Development Act of 2003 the 
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1 Secretary shall develop an integrated transportation 

2 research and development strategic plan. The Sec3 retary shall periodically revise such plan. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan shall—

5 ‘‘(A) include the general goals and prin6 ciples of the Department of Transportation for 

7 transportation research and development pro8 gram set forth in section 102 of the Surface 

9 Transportation Research and Development Act 

10 of 2003; 

11 ‘‘(B) define the roles of the Department 

12 and other Federal agencies in achieving the 

13 goals and principles identified under subpara14 graph (A), in order to avoid unnecessary dupli15 cation of effort; 

16 ‘‘(C) define the Department’s overall strat17 egy and research and development priorities, 

18 and for each research area specified in section 

19 502, set out—

20 ‘‘(i) specific research strategies; 

21 ‘‘(ii) research objectives and priorities; 

22 ‘‘(iii) projects to be carried out; 

23 ‘‘(iv) recommended technology trans24 fer activities to promote the deployment of 

25 research results; and 
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1 ‘‘(v) short-term, medium-term, and 

2 long-term technology development and de3 ployment activities; 

4 ‘‘(D) define the role of each of the oper5 ating administrations of the Department in car6 rying out the plan over the next 5 years, includ7 ing a description of procedures for coordination 

8 of the efforts of the Secretary with the efforts 

9 of the operating administrations of the Depart10 ment and other Federal agencies; 

11 ‘‘(E) assess how State and local research 

12 and development activities are contributing to 

13 the achievement of the goals identified under 

14 subparagraph (A) and priorities identified 

15 under subparagraph (C); 

16 ‘‘(F) provide details of the transportation 

17 research and development programs of the De18 partment, including performance goals, re19 sources needed to achieve those goals, and per20 formance indicators as described in section 

21 1115(a) of title 31 for the next 5 years for each 

22 area of research and development; 

23 ‘‘(G) incorporate input from a wide range 

24 of interests in the transportation community, 

25 including State transportation officials, metro-
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1 politan planning organizations, local govern2 ments, business, environmental and community 

3 organizations, academia, and other relevant 

4 Federal agencies, and summarize significant 

5 comments on the plan obtained from these in6 terests; and 

7 ‘‘(H) incorporate the input of the National 

8 Academy of Sciences and include responses to 

9 significant comments obtained from the Acad10 emy and other advisory bodies, and describe 

11 any corrective actions taken pursuant to such 

12 comments. 

13 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES RE14 VIEW.—The Secretary shall enter into an agreement 

15 for the review by the National Academy of Sciences 

16 of the details of each—

17 ‘‘(A) strategic plan or revision required 

18 under section 306 of title 5; 

19 ‘‘(B) performance plan required under sec20 tion 1115 of title 31; and 

21 ‘‘(C) program performance report required 

22 under section 1116 of title 31—

23 with respect to transportation research and develop24 ment. 
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1 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE PLANS AND REPORTS.—In 

2 reports submitted under sections 1115 and 1116 of 

3 title 31, the Secretary shall include—

4 ‘‘(A) a summary of the results for the pre5 vious fiscal year of transportation research and 

6 development programs to which the Department 

7 of Transportation contributes, along with—

8 ‘‘(i) an analysis of the relationship be9 tween those results and the goals identified 

10 under paragraph (2)(A); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a description of the methodology 

12 used for assessing the results; and 

13 ‘‘(B) a description of significant transpor14 tation research and development initiatives, if 

15 any, undertaken during the previous fiscal year 

16 that were not in the plan developed under para17 graph (1), and any significant changes in the 

18 plan from the previous year’s plan. 

19 ‘‘(d) MERIT REVIEW AND PERFORMANCE MEASURE20 MENT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

21 of the Surface Transportation Research and Development 

22 Act of 2003, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a 

23 report describing competitive merit review procedures for 

24 use in selecting grantees and contractors in the programs 

25 covered by the plan developed under subsection (c) and 
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1 performance measurement procedures for evaluating the 

2 programs. 

3 ‘‘(e) PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

4 shall—

5 ‘‘(1) develop model procurement procedures 

6 that encourage the use of advanced technologies; and 

7 ‘‘(2) develop model transactions for carrying 

8 out and coordinating Federal and State transpor9 tation research and development activities. 

10 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL PROJECT REPORTS.—The Secretary 

11 shall publish and make publicly available an annual report 

12 documenting all transportation research and development 

13 activities of the Department. The report shall include de14 tailed accounting of how Federal funds were expended. 

15 ‘‘(g) CONSISTENCY WITH GOVERNMENT PERFORM16 ANCE AND RESULTS ACT OF 1993.—The plans and re17 ports developed under this section shall be consistent with 

18 and incorporated as part of the plans developed under sec19 tion 306 of title 5 and sections 1115 and 1116 of title 

20 31.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

22 chapter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

23 striking the item related to section 508 and inserting the 

24 following:

‘‘508. Transportation research and development strategic planning and annual 

reporting.’’.
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1 SEC. 104. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND DE2 VELOPMENT. 

3 (a) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND DE4 VELOPMENT.—Section 502 of title 23, United States 

5 Code, is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (a)—

7 (A) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) 

8 of paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(B) all phases of transportation planning 

10 and development (including construction, trans11 portation system management and operation, 

12 modernization, development, design, mainte13 nance, safety, data collection, performance anal14 ysis, multimodal assessment, financing, demand 

15 forecasting, and traffic conditions); 

16 ‘‘(C) institutional arrangements and sup17 port; and 

18 ‘‘(D) the effect of State laws on the activi19 ties described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and 

20 (C).’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (3)(C), by inserting 

22 ‘‘academic researcher,’’ after ‘‘association, insti23 tution,’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (c)—
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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘acces2 sibility, connectivity,’’ after ‘‘United States, in3 cluding’’; 

4 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 

5 through (11) as paragraphs (5) through (12), 

6 respectively; 

7 (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

8 following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(4) Methods and testing to determine the im10 pacts, both positive and negative, to communities 

11 from major transportation investments.’’; 

12 (D) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated 

13 by subparagraph (B) of this paragraph—

14 (i) by striking ‘‘research project’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘improvements against policy ob16 jectives’’ in subparagraph (B); and 

17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and management’’ 

18 after ‘‘transportation operations’’ in sub19 paragraph (C); 

20 (E) in paragraph (12), as so redesignated 

21 by subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, by 

22 striking ‘‘, including unobtrusive eyetracking 

23 technology’’; and 

24 (F) by adding at the end the following new 

25 paragraphs: 
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1 ‘‘(13) Environmental research, including re2 search described in the Transportation Research 

3 Board Special Report 268, entitled ‘Surface Trans4 portation Environmental Research: A Long-Term 

5 Strategy’, published in 2002. 

6 ‘‘(14) Assessment of planning strategies that 

7 link land use and transportation in metropolitan 

8 areas. 

9 ‘‘(15) Exploratory advanced research under 

10 subsection (d). 

11 ‘‘(16) Research aimed at understanding how 

12 emerging trends (including demographic, economic, 

13 and social trends) will affect and are affected by sur14 face transportation usage and needs. 

15 ‘‘(17) Research on the link between transpor16 tation and health (including asthma and obesity). 

17 ‘‘(18) Research on, and dissemination of rec18 ommendations and best practices aimed at address19 ing, nontechnical barriers to technology deployment 

20 (which include fragmented local authority, rigid pro21 curement rules, and privacy and liability consider22 ations). 

23 ‘‘(19) Research on the effects of climate condi24 tions (such as freezing, thawing, and precipitation) 

25 on highway construction and maintenance, including 
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1 research to reduce or repair damage caused by cli2 matic conditions, development of materials that can 

3 withstand climatic conditions, and research on the 

4 effects of climatic conditions on the costs of highway 

5 construction and maintenance. 

6 ‘‘(20) Research to improve the infrastructure 

7 investment needs report under subsection (g) 

8 through new methods of collecting better quality 

9 data, monitoring in a system-wide manner, the de10 termination of critical metrics to assess condition 

11 and performance, and new methods of statistical 

12 analysis and computer models to improve the pre13 diction of future needs. 

14 ‘‘(21) Research, development, and technology 

15 transfer related to asset management.

16 ‘‘(22) Any other surface transportation research 

17 topics that the Secretary determines, in accordance 

18 with the strategic planning process under section 

19 508, to be critical.’’; 

20 (3) in subsection (d)—

21 (A) in paragraph (1)—

22 (i) by inserting ‘‘exploratory’’ after 

23 ‘‘shall establish an’’; and 

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘fundamental’’ after 

25 ‘‘508, that addresses’’; and 
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1 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert2 ing the following new paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(2) GOAL.—The goal of the research program 

4 under this subsection shall be to achieve break5 throughs in understanding transportation phe6 nomena. Exploratory advanced research should have 

7 a broader objective, longer time frame, multidisci8 plinary nature, and have both a higher risk and a 

9 higher potential payoff than for problem-solving re10 search. 

11 ‘‘(3) AGENDA.—Not later than 15 months after 

12 that date of enactment of this paragraph, the Sec13 retary shall develop an agenda for exploratory ad14 vanced research. The agenda shall outline key ques15 tions to be addressed and proposed areas of research 

16 to address these questions. The agenda shall also 

17 document the best way to accomplish this research 

18 (such as through Federal laboratories or academic 

19 researchers). Upon completion, the agenda shall be 

20 transmitted to the Committee on Transportation and 

21 Infrastructure and the Committee on Science of the 

22 House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

23 Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and 

24 made available to the general public. 
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1 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con2 sult with the National Science Foundation in review3 ing fundamental research proposals, and to obtain 

4 advice on peer review protocols. 

5 ‘‘(5) WORKSHOP.—In order to develop the 

6 agenda for exploratory advanced research under 

7 paragraph (3), the Secretary shall convene a work8 shop with appropriate researchers and policymakers 

9 from Federal and State agencies, as well as aca10 demic researchers, to gather recommendations. The 

11 goal of the workshop shall be to determine priority 

12 areas of exploratory advanced research for Federal 

13 investment. Emphasis shall be placed on hearing 

14 from a diverse group of stakeholders. The Secretary 

15 shall make the results of the workshop widely avail16 able to the public. The workshop shall be held within 

17 9 months after the date of the enactment of this 

18 paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(6) USE OF FUNDS.—In any fiscal year with 

20 respect to which $5,000,000 or more is appropriated 

for carrying out this subsection, at least 1 21 ⁄2 of the 

22 funds in excess of $5,000,000 shall be used to carry 

23 out the grant program described in paragraph (7). 

24 Funds appropriated for carrying out this subsection 

25 not used for the grant program described in para-
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1 graph (7) shall be used to carry out the agenda de2 veloped under paragraph (3). All exploratory ad3 vanced research proposals and results under this 

4 subsection shall be peer reviewed. 

5 ‘‘(7) GRANT PROGRAM.—If funds are available 

6 under paragraph (6), the Secretary shall administer 

7 a competitive, merit-reviewed and peer-reviewed 

8 grant program to support fundamental research out9 side of the Federal Government. Eligible applicants 

10 include academic researchers, and for-profit and not11 for-profit research institutions. Under this grant 

12 program, research solicitations shall be open and 

13 broad in order to spur creativity and innovation. 

14 Funds may be used under this paragraph to support 

15 research in a range of topics, including materials, 

16 operations, and social science. Proposals with the 

17 greatest merit shall be funded, and projects may re18 ceive funding for multiple years.’’; 

19 (4) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(105 Stat.’’ 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘performance program’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘and the Transportation Equity Act 

22 for the 21st Century’’; 

23 (5) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol24 lows: 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(f) LONG-TERM BRIDGE PERFORMANCE PRO2 GRAM.—

3 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish a 20 year long-term bridge performance pro5 gram. 

6 ‘‘(2) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND

7 CONTRACTS.—Under the program, the Secretary 

8 shall make grants and enter into cooperative agree9 ments and contracts to—

10 ‘‘(A) monitor, material-test, and evaluate 

11 test bridges; 

12 ‘‘(B) analyze the data obtained in carrying 

13 out subparagraph (A); and 

14 ‘‘(C) prepare products to fulfill program 

15 objectives and meet future bridge technology 

16 needs.’’; 

17 (6) in subsection (g)—

18 (A) in paragraph (1)—

19 (i) by striking ‘‘1999’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘2005’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘highway and bridge’’ 

22 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sur23 face transportation’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘bian25 nual reports’’ and all that follows through 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘21st Century’’ and inserting ‘‘previous reports 

2 under this subsection’’; and 

3 (7) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(h) TURNER-FAIRBANK HIGHWAY RESEARCH CEN6 TER.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall operate 

8 in the Federal Highway Administration a Turner9 Fairbank Highway Research Center.

10 ‘‘(2) USES OF THE CENTER.—The Turner11 Fairbank Highway Research Center shall support 

12 the—

13 ‘‘(A) conduct of highway research and de14 velopment related to new highway technology; 

15 ‘‘(B) development of understandings, tools, 

16 and techniques that provide solutions to com17 plex technical problems through the develop18 ment of economical and environmentally sen19 sitive designs, efficient and quality controlled 

20 construction practices, and durable materials; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(C) development of innovative highway 

23 products and practices.’’. 

24 (b) GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS.—Section 

25 5113 of the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Cen-
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 tury (23 U.S.C. 502 note) is amended by revising sub2 section (b) to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—

4 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL POLICY.—The Secretary shall 

5 establish and maintain a national policy for the use 

6 of commercial remote sensing products and 

7 geospatial information technologies in national 

8 transportation infrastructure development and con9 struction.

10 ‘‘(2) POLICY IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec11 retary shall develop new applications of commercial 

12 remote sensing products and geospatial information 

13 technologies for the implementation of the national 

14 policy established and maintained under (b)(1) of 

15 this section.’’. 

16 (c) ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING.—

17 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 507 of title 23, 

18 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘§ 507. Surface transportation environment and plan20 ning cooperative research program–

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab22 lish and support a collaborative, public-private, 

23 multimodal surface transportation environment and plan24 ning cooperative research program. 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall make grants 

2 to or enter into cooperative agreements with the National 

3 Academy of Sciences, or another nonprofit research orga4 nization established for this purpose, to support, admin5 ister, and manage the surface transportation environment 

6 and planning cooperative research program. 

7 ‘‘(c) ADVISORY BOARD.—

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The organization de9 scribed in subsection (b) shall establish an inde10 pendent advisory board drawn from core partners 

11 that represent environment, transportation, sci12 entific, and other interests, including the Depart13 ment of Transportation, the Environmental Protec14 tion Agency, the National Science Foundation, other 

15 Federal agencies, the States, regional and local gov16 ernments, nonprofit organizations, academia, foun17 dations, and the private sector. 

18 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Advisory Board 

19 shall have the responsibility for—

20 ‘‘(A) development of a research agenda, 

21 which shall be published annually, shall serve as 

22 the basis of the annual project solicitation, and 

23 shall be based on the multiyear strategy de24 scribed in subsection (e), as revised under sub25 paragraph (D) of this paragraph; 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) annual solicitation of project pro2 posals, including open competition and peer re3 view of research proposals; 

4 ‘‘(C) development of project selection cri5 teria, through an open and public consultation 

6 process with stakeholders, that emphasize—

7 ‘‘(i) the development of fundamental 

8 knowledge; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) collaborative research and fund10 ing; and 

11 ‘‘(D) revision of the contents of the 

12 multiyear strategy described in subsection (e), 

13 through an open and public consultation proc14 ess, with the first revision to be completed 3 

15 years after the first grants are awarded under 

16 this section and subsequent revisions biennially 

17 thereafter. 

18 ‘‘(d) DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS.—

19 The organization described in subsection (b) and the De20 partment of Transportation shall proactively disseminate 

21 research findings under this section to researchers, practi22 tioners, and decisionmakers, through conferences and 

23 seminars, field demonstrations, workshops, training pro24 grams, presentations, testimony to government officials, 

25 the Internet, and publications for the general public. 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(e) CONTENTS.—The national research agenda for 

2 the surface transportation environment and planning co3 operative research program required under subsection 

4 (c)(2)(C) shall be based on Transportation Research 

5 Board Special Report 268, entitled ‘Surface Transpor6 tation Environmental Research: A Long-Term Strategy’, 

7 published in 2002, which included the following research 

8 areas: 

9 ‘‘(1) Human Health. 

10 ‘‘(2) Ecology and Natural Systems. 

11 ‘‘(3) Environmental and Social Justice. 

12 ‘‘(4) Emerging Technologies. 

13 ‘‘(5) Land Use. 

14 ‘‘(6) Planning and Performance Measures. 

15 ‘‘(f) PROJECT FUNDING.—

16 ‘‘(1) MULTIYEAR FUNDING.—Projects may re17 ceive funding for multiple years under this section. 

18 ‘‘(2) JOINT PROJECT FUNDING.—In addition to 

19 using funds authorized for this section, the organiza20 tion that administers this program may seek and ac21 cept additional funding sources from public and pri22 vate entities capable of attracting and accepting 

23 funding from Federal agencies, States, local govern24 ments, nonprofit foundations, and the private sector. 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(g) PROGRAMMATIC EVALUATIONS.—(1) Not later 

2 than 2 years after the first research project grants or con3 tracts are awarded under this section, the Secretary shall 

4 enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of 

5 Public Administration to review the program under this 

6 section, and recommend improvements. 

7 ‘‘(2) The National Academy of Public Administration 

8 review shall—

9 ‘‘(A) assess the degree to which the projects 

10 funded under this section have addressed the re11 search topics identified in the strategy established in 

12 the Transportation Research Board Special Report 

13 268, including identifying those topics which have 

14 not yet been addressed; 

15 ‘‘(B) assess the peer review process for project 

16 proposals, and assess research project results; and 

17 ‘‘(C) assess the extent of stakeholder involve18 ment in all facets of the program. 

19 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT.—The organization described 

20 in subsection (b) shall prepare and transmit to the Sec21 retary an annual report that includes a project summary 

22 for every project funded under this section. Each summary 

23 shall characterize the project, summarize its status, and 

24 identify sponsors.’’. 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis 

2 for chapter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is 

3 amended by striking the item related to section 507 

4 and inserting the following:

‘‘507. Surface transportation environment and planning cooperative research 

program.’’.

5 SEC. 105. TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT. 

6 Section 503 of title 23, United States Code, is 

7 amended—

8 (1) in subsection (a)—

9 (A) by amending paragraph (7) to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(7) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND

12 CONTRACTS.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, 

14 the Secretary may make grants and enter into 

15 cooperative agreements and contracts with 

16 States, metropolitan planning organizations, 

17 local governments, other Federal agencies, uni18 versities and colleges, private sector entities, 

19 and nonprofit organizations to foster alliances 

20 and support efforts to stimulate advances in 

21 transportation technology, and to pay the Fed22 eral share of the costs of research, development, 

23 and technology transfer concerning innovative 

24 technologies. 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) APPLICATIONS.—To receive a grant, 

2 cooperative agreement, or contract, under this 

3 paragraph, an entity described in subparagraph 

4 (A) shall submit an application to the Sec5 retary. The application shall be in such form 

6 and contain such information as the Secretary 

7 may require. The Secretary shall select and ap8 prove the applications based on the applica9 tions’ merit and on whether the project that is 

10 the subject of the grant, cooperative agreement, 

11 or contract meets the goals of the program de12 scribed in paragraph (3).’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘and 

14 the Committee on Science’’ after ‘‘Transpor15 tation and Infrastructure’’; 

16 (C) by redesignating paragraph (9) as 

17 paragraph (11); and 

18 (D) by inserting after paragraph (8) the 

19 following new paragraphs:

20 ‘‘(9) TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION TRANS21 FER.—The Secretary shall ensure that the informa22 tion and technology resulting from research con23 ducted under this subsection is made available to 

24 State and local transportation departments, metro-
37

•HR 3551 IH 

1 politan planning organizations, and other interested 

2 parties. 

3 ‘‘(10) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

4 the cost of a project under this subsection shall be 

5 determined by the Secretary.’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (b)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘BRIDGE RESEARCH AND

8 CONSTRUCTION’’ and inserting ‘‘RESEARCH

9 AND DEPLOYMENT’’ in the subsection heading; 

10 (B) by amending paragraphs (1) and (2) 

11 to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab13 lish and carry out a program to demonstrate the ap14 plication of innovative technology in surface trans15 portation infrastructure construction (such as 

16 bridges, pavements, and other structures) and safe17 ty. 

18 ‘‘(2) GOALS.—The goals of the program shall 

19 include—

20 ‘‘(A) the development of new, cost-effective 

21 innovative material for surface transportation 

22 infrastructure applications; 

23 ‘‘(B) the deployment and evaluation of 

24 safety technologies and innovations at the State 

25 and local levels, and the deployment of best 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 practices in training, management, design, and 

2 planning; 

3 ‘‘(C) the reduction of life-cycle costs of 

4 surface transportation infrastructure, including 

5 the costs of new construction, replacement, 

6 maintenance, and rehabilitation of deficient 

7 highway infrastructure; 

8 ‘‘(D) the development and deployment of 

9 construction techniques to increase safety and 

10 reduce construction time and traffic congestion; 

11 ‘‘(E) the development of engineering de12 sign criteria for innovative products and mate13 rials for use in surface transportation infra14 structure; 

15 ‘‘(F) the development of cost-effective and 

16 innovative techniques to separate vehicle and 

17 pedestrian traffic from railroad traffic; 

18 ‘‘(G) the evaluation and documentation of 

19 the performance and benefits of innovative tech20 nologies deployed to improve life, performance, 

21 cost effectiveness, safety, and customer satisfac22 tion; 

23 ‘‘(H) the refinement of innovative tech24 nologies based on the evaluation described in 

25 subparagraph (G); 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(I) the wide dissemination of information 

2 developed under subparagraph (G); 

3 ‘‘(J) the development of surface transpor4 tation infrastructure, including alternative proc5 esses for the seismic retrofit of bridges, that 

6 will withstand natural disasters and terrorist 

7 attacks; 

8 ‘‘(K) for pavements, the development of 

9 designs and materials to reduce impacts of 

10 storm water runoff; 

11 ‘‘(L) the development of new non12 destructive infrastructure evaluation tech13 nologies and techniques; and 

14 ‘‘(M) effective technology transfer and in15 formation dissemination to accelerate imple16 mentation of innovative technologies.’’; 

17 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘section’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘subsection’’; and 

19 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

20 subsection: 

21 ‘‘(c) RESEARCH ON THE NONTECHNICAL BARRIERS

22 TO TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT.—In order to support the 

23 deployment goals established under subsection (a)(3), the 

24 Secretary shall carry out a research program addressing 

25 the nontechnical barriers to technology deployment, in-
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 cluding fragmented authority at the local and regional 

2 level and rigid procurement rules. The goal of this re3 search shall be to generate proposals for how to overcome 

4 these nontechnical barriers. 

5 SEC. 106. TRAINING AND EDUCATION. 

6 (a) NATIONAL HIGHWAY INSTITUTE.—Section 

7 504(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

8 striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(3) COURSES.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Institute shall de11 velop or update existing courses in asset man12 agement, application of emerging technologies, 

13 including intelligent transportation systems, 

14 and in techniques, methods, regulations, infor15 mation technology, general management, envi16 ronmental stewardship, engineering, safety, 

17 transportation system management and oper18 ations, construction, maintenance, contract ad19 ministration, inspection, and finance. 

20 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL COURSES.—In addition 

21 to the courses developed under subparagraph 

22 (A), the Institute, in consultation with State 

23 transportation departments and the American 

24 Association of State Highway and Transpor-
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 tation Officials, may develop other courses as it 

2 considers necessary. 

3 ‘‘(C) REVISION OF COURSES OFFERED.—

4 The Institute shall periodically—

5 ‘‘(i) review the course inventory of the 

6 Institute; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) revise or cease to offer courses 

8 based on course content, applicability, and 

9 need.’’. 

10 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 504(b) of title 23, 

11 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—

14 ‘‘(A) GRANTS.—The grant funds author15 ized to carry out this subsection may be used 

16 to cover up to 50 percent of the program costs 

17 relating to local technical assistance. Funds 

18 available for technology transfer and training 

19 purposes under this title and title 49 may be 

20 used to cover the remaining 50 percent of the 

21 program costs. 

22 ‘‘(B) TRIBAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

23 CENTERS.—The Federal share of the cost of ac24 tivities carried out by the tribal technical assist-
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ance centers under paragraph (2)(D)(ii) of this 

2 subsection shall be 100 percent.’’. 

3 (c) DEFINITIONS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY.—

4 Section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amend5 ed—

6 (1) in paragraph (3), by—

7 (A) striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (G); 

9 (B) striking the period at the end of sub10 paragraph (H) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) adding after subparagraph (H) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(I) surface transportation workforce de14 velopment, training, and education.’’; 

15 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (35) through 

16 (37) as paragraphs (36) through (38) respectively; 

17 and 

18 (3) by adding after paragraph (34) the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(35) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION WORKFORCE

21 DEVELOPMENT, TRAINING, AND EDUCATION.—The 

22 term ‘surface transportation workforce development, 

23 training, and education’ means activities associated 

24 with surface transportation career awareness, stu25 dent transportation career preparation, and training 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 and professional development for surface transpor2 tation workers.’’.

3 SEC. 107. BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS. 

4 Section 111 of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘§ 111. Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

8 Department of Transportation a Bureau of Transpor9 tation Statistics to provide information to public decision10 makers, private industry, research organizations, and the 

11 public on the extent, use, condition, performance, and con12 sequences of the Nation’s transportation system. 

13 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—

14 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Bureau shall be 

15 headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the 

16 President, by and with the advice and consent of the 

17 Senate. 

18 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be 

19 appointed from among individuals who are qualified 

20 to serve as the Director by virtue of their training 

21 and experience in the collection, analysis, and use of 

22 transportation statistics. 

23 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—The Director shall report 

24 directly to the Secretary. 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(4) TERM.—The term of the Director shall be 

2 5 years. The Director may continue to serve after 

3 the expiration of the term until a successor is ap4 pointed and confirmed. 

5 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Director of the Bu6 reau shall be responsible for carrying out the following du7 ties: 

8 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY’S SENIOR ADVISOR.—Serving 

9 as the Secretary’s senior advisor on data and statis10 tics. 

11 ‘‘(2) PROVIDING DATA, STATISTICS, AND ANAL12 YSIS TO TRANSPORTATION DECISIONMAKERS.—En13 suring that the statistics compiled under paragraph 

14 (6) support transportation decisionmaking by the 

15 Federal Government, State and local governments, 

16 metropolitan planning organizations, transportation17 related associations, private businesses (including 

18 the freight community), and consumers. 

19 ‘‘(3) COORDINATING COLLECTION OF INFORMA20 TION.—Coordinating the collection of information by 

21 the Department of Transportation required for sta22 tistics to be compiled under paragraph (6) with re23 lated information gathering activities conducted by 

24 other Federal departments and agencies and col25 lecting appropriate data not elsewhere gathered. 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(4) DATA MODERNIZATION.—Implement a 

2 data modernization program to improve surveys and 

3 data collection methods to ensure that nationally col4 lected data accurately characterize all modes of 

5 transportation and transportation users and are use6 ful for decisionmakers throughout the transportation 

7 community. 

8 ‘‘(5) ENCOURAGING DATA STANDARDIZATION.—

9 Encouraging standardization of data, data collection 

10 methods, and data management and storage tech11 nologies for data collected by the Bureau, the oper12 ating administrations of the Department of Trans13 portation, States, local governments, metropolitan 

14 planning organizations, and private sector entities. 

15 ‘‘(6) COMPILING TRANSPORTATION STATIS16 TICS.—Compiling, analyzing, and publishing a com17 prehensive set of transportation statistics on—

18 ‘‘(A) productivity in various parts of the 

19 transportation sector; 

20 ‘‘(B) traffic flows for all modes of trans21 portation; 

22 ‘‘(C) other elements of the Intermodal 

23 Transportation Database established under sub24 section (g); 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(D) travel times and measures of conges2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(E) vehicle weights and other vehicle 

4 characteristics; 

5 ‘‘(F) demographic, economic, and other 

6 variables influencing—

7 ‘‘(i) travel; 

8 ‘‘(ii) traveling behavior, including 

9 choice of transportation mode; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) goods movement; 

11 ‘‘(G) transportation costs for passenger 

12 travel and goods movement; 

13 ‘‘(H) performance and impacts of the na14 tional transportation system; 

15 ‘‘(I) availability and use of mass transit 

16 (including the number of passengers served by 

17 each mass transit authority) and other forms of 

18 for-hire passenger travel; 

19 ‘‘(J) frequency of vehicle and transpor20 tation facility repairs and other interruptions of 

21 transportation service; 

22 ‘‘(K) safety and security for travelers, vehi23 cles, and transportation systems; 

24 ‘‘(L) consequences of transportation for 

25 the human and natural environment; 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(M) the extent, connectivity, and condi2 tion of the transportation system, including ele3 ments of the National Transportation Atlas 

4 Database developed under subsection (i); and 

5 ‘‘(N) transportation-related variables that 

6 influence the domestic economy and global com7 petitiveness. 

8 ‘‘(7) NATIONAL SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUC9 TURE.—Building and disseminating the transpor10 tation layer of the National Spatial Data Infrastruc11 ture, including coordinating the development of 

12 transportation geospatial data standards, compiling 

13 intermodal geospatial data, and collecting geospatial 

14 data that is not being collected by others. 

15 ‘‘(8) IMPLEMENTING LONG-TERM DATA COL16 LECTION PROGRAM.—Establishing and imple17 menting, in cooperation with the heads of the oper18 ating administrations of the Department of Trans19 portation, the States, metropolitan planning organi20 zations, the national statistical organizations of the 

21 United States, and other Federal officials, a com22 prehensive, long-term program for the collection and 

23 analysis of data to support the statistics compiled, 

24 analyzed, and published under paragraph (6) and 
48

•HR 3551 IH 

1 other data on the performance of the transportation 

2 systems of the United States. Such program shall—

3 ‘‘(A) be coordinated with efforts to meas4 ure outputs and outcomes of the Department of 

5 Transportation and the transportation systems 

6 of the United States under the Government 

7 Performance and Results Act of 1993 (107 

8 Stat. 285 et seq.) and the amendments made by 

9 such Act; 

10 ‘‘(B) ensure that data is collected under 

11 this subsection in a manner which will maxi12 mize the ability to compare data from different 

13 regions and for different time periods; and 

14 ‘‘(C) ensure that data collected under this 

15 subsection is controlled for accuracy, made rel16 evant to the States and metropolitan planning 

17 organizations, and disseminated to the States 

18 and other interested parties.

19 ‘‘(9) ISSUING GUIDELINES.—Issuing guidelines 

20 for the collection and publication of information by 

21 the Department of Transportation required for sta22 tistics to be compiled under paragraph (6) in order 

23 to ensure that such information is accurate, reliable, 

24 relevant, and in a form that permits systematic anal25 ysis. The Bureau shall review and report to the Sec-
49

•HR 3551 IH 

1 retary of Transportation on the sources and reli2 ability of the statistics proposed by the heads of the 

3 operating administrations of the Department to 

4 measure outputs and outcomes as required by the 

5 Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, 

6 and the amendments made by such Act, and shall 

7 carry out such other reviews of the sources and reli8 ability of other data collected or statistical informa9 tion published by the heads of the operating admin10 istrations of the Department as shall be requested 

11 by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(10) MAKING STATISTICS ACCESSIBLE.—Mak13 ing the statistics published under this subsection 

14 readily accessible. 

15 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 60 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of the Surface Transportation 

18 Research and Development Act of 2003, the Sec19 retary shall enter into an arrangement with the Na20 tional Academy of Sciences to develop and publish a 

21 National Transportation Information Needs Assess22 ment. The Assessment shall be published not later 

23 than 24 months after such arrangement is entered 

24 into. 

25 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The Assessment shall—
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(A) identify the major data needs of the 

2 transportation community, including all levels 

3 of government, the private and nonprofit sec4 tors, and academia, through a statistically valid 

5 needs survey, the results of which shall be pub6 lished; 

7 ‘‘(B) identify critical gaps, shortcomings, 

8 and lack of standardization in existing data col9 lection and survey methods; 

10 ‘‘(C) identify data collection required under 

11 subsection (c)(6) that is not currently being 

12 carried out; and 

13 ‘‘(D) recommend data modernization goals, 

14 specific improvements, and the estimated fund15 ing levels needed to accomplish those improve16 ments. 

17 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the As18 sessment, the National Academy of Sciences shall 

19 consult with the Department’s Advisory Council on 

20 Transportation Statistics and a representative cross21 section of the transportation community, including 

22 business, the freight community, State and local 

23 governments, metropolitan planning organizations, 

24 transit, environmental, and community organiza25 tions, academia, and other Federal agencies, includ-
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ing the Environmental Protection Agency, the De2 partment of Energy, and the Department of Hous3 ing and Urban Development. 

4 ‘‘(e) STRATEGIC PLAN.—

5 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT AND REVISION.—The Di6 rector shall develop an integrated, multimodal data 

7 strategic plan within 3 years after the date of the 

8 enactment of the Surface Transportation Research 

9 and Development Act of 2003, and revise it every 3 

10 years thereafter. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The strategic plan shall in12 clude—

13 ‘‘(A) national goals for developing high 

14 quality national, State, local, and metropolitan 

15 transportation data; 

16 ‘‘(B) national goals for encouraging im17 provements in non-Federal transportation data 

18 collection and management to improve quality, 

19 reliability, and comparability; 

20 ‘‘(C) detailed strategies for—

21 ‘‘(i) addressing the needs and gaps 

22 identified in the Assessment conducted 

23 under subsection (d); 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(ii) integrating federally collected 

2 transportation data collection and systems, 

3 and coordinating data collection; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) encouraging improvements in 

5 data collected by entities other than the 

6 Federal Government; 

7 ‘‘(D) a plan to strengthen the Intermodal 

8 Transportation Data Base required under sub9 section (g) and the National Transportation Li10 brary under subsection (h); 

11 ‘‘(E) an assessment of how data collection 

12 by entities other than the Federal Government 

13 is contributing to the achievement of the goals 

14 of this section; 

15 ‘‘(F) responses to significant comments re16 ceived through the consultation required under 

17 subsection (d)(2); 

18 ‘‘(G) provision for the integrated planning, 

19 coordination, and consultation among the oper20 ating administrations of the Department of 

21 Transportation, all other Federal agencies with 

22 responsibilities related to transportation data, 

23 State and local governments, metropolitan plan24 ning organizations, institutions of higher edu25 cation, industry, and other private and public 
53

•HR 3551 IH 

1 sector organizations engaged in transportation2 related data activities and decisionmaking; and 

3 ‘‘(H) details of the Department of Trans4 portation’s data programs, including perform5 ance goals, resources needed to achieve those 

6 goals, and performance indicators as described 

7 in section 1115(a) of title 31, United States 

8 Code, for the next 5 years for each area data 

9 collection and management. 

10 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the stra11 tegic plan, the Director shall consult with the Na12 tional Academy of Sciences, the Advisory Council on 

13 Transportation Statistics, the Department’s oper14 ating administrations, other Federal agencies, State 

15 and local governments, metropolitan planning orga16 nizations, business, and the public. 

17 ‘‘(f) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General shall assess 

18 the Department’s progress addressing the gaps identified 

19 in the Assessment required under subsection (d) and in 

20 preparing and implementing the strategic plan required 

21 under subsection (e). The assessment under this sub22 section shall be completed not later than 4 years after the 

23 date of the enactment of the Surface Transportation Re24 search and Development Act of 2003. 

25 ‘‘(g) INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION DATA BASE.—
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the 

2 Associate Deputy Secretary, the Assistant Secre3 taries, and the heads of the operating administra4 tions of the Department of Transportation, the Di5 rector shall establish and maintain a transportation 

6 data base for all modes of transportation. 

7 ‘‘(2) USE.—The data base shall be suitable for 

8 analyses carried out by the Federal Government, the 

9 States, and metropolitan planning organizations. 

10 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—The data base shall in11 clude—

12 ‘‘(A) information on the volumes and pat13 terns of movement of goods, including local, 

14 interregional, and international movement, by 

15 all modes of transportation and intermodal 

16 combinations, and by relevant classification; 

17 ‘‘(B) information on the volumes and pat18 terns of movement of people, including local, 

19 interregional, and international movements, by

20 all modes of transportation (including bicycle 

21 and pedestrian modes) and intermodal combina22 tions, and by relevant classification; 

23 ‘‘(C) information on the location and 

24 connectivity of transportation facilities and 

25 services; and 
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 ‘‘(D) a national accounting of expenditures 

2 and capital stocks on each mode of transpor3 tation and intermodal combination. 

4 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION LIBRARY.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

6 and maintain a National Transportation Library, 

7 which shall contain a collection of statistical and 

8 other information needed for transportation decision9 making at the Federal, State, and local levels. 

10 ‘‘(2) ACCESS.—The Director shall facilitate and 

11 promote access to the Library, with the goal of im12 proving the ability of the transportation community 

13 to share information and the ability of the Director 

14 to make statistics readily accessible under subsection 

15 (c)(10). 

16 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION.—The Director shall work 

17 with other transportation libraries and other trans18 portation information providers, both public and pri19 vate, to achieve the goal specified in paragraph (2). 

20 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION ATLAS DATA

21 BASE.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall develop 

23 and maintain geospatial data bases that depict—

24 ‘‘(A) transportation networks; 
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1 ‘‘(B) flows of people, goods, vehicles, and 

2 craft over the networks; and 

3 ‘‘(C) social, economic, and environmental 

4 conditions that affect or are affected by the net5 works. 

6 ‘‘(2) INTERMODAL NETWORK ANALYSIS.—The 

7 data bases shall be able to support intermodal net8 work analysis. 

9 ‘‘(j) MANDATORY RESPONSE AUTHORITY FOR

10 FREIGHT DATA COLLECTION.—Whoever, being the 

11 owner, official, agent, person in charge, or assistant to the 

12 person in charge, of any corporation, company, business, 

13 institution, establishment, or organization of any nature 

14 whatsoever, neglects or refuses, when requested by the Di15 rector or other authorized officer, employee or contractor 

16 of the Bureau, to answer completely and correctly to the 

17 best of his/her knowledge all questions relating to the cor18 poration, company, business, institution, establishment, or 

19 other organization, or to records or statistics in his/her 

20 official custody, contained in a data collection request pre21 pared and submitted under the authority of subsection 

22 (c)(6), shall be fined not more than $500; and if the indi23 vidual willfully gives a false answer to a question, shall 

24 be fined not more than $10,000. 
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1 ‘‘(k) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.—The 

2 Secretary may make grants to, or enter into cooperative 

3 agreements or contracts with, public and nonprofit private 

4 entities (including State transportation departments, met5 ropolitan planning organizations, and institutions of high6 er education) for—

7 ‘‘(1) investigation of the subjects specified in 

8 subsection (c)(6) and research and development of 

9 new methods of data collection, standardization, 

10 management, integration, dissemination, interpreta11 tion, and analysis; 

12 ‘‘(2) demonstration programs by States, local 

13 governments, and metropolitan planning organiza14 tions to harmonize data collection, reporting, man15 agement, storage, and archiving to simplify data 

16 comparisons across jurisdictions; 

17 ‘‘(3) development of electronic clearinghouses of 

18 transportation data and related information, as part 

19 of the National Transportation Library under sub20 section (h); and 

21 ‘‘(4) development and improvement of methods 

22 for sharing geographic data, in support of the na23 tional transportation atlas data base under sub24 section (i) and the National Spatial Data Infrastruc25 ture developed under Executive Order No. 12906. 
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1 ‘‘(l) RESEARCH AND GUIDELINES ON STATISTICAL

2 METHODS.—The Secretary shall conduct or support re3 search relating to methods of gathering or analyzing 

4 transportation statistics and issuing guidelines for the col5 lection of information by the Department in order to en6 sure that such information is accurate, relevant, com7 parable, accessible, and in a form that permits systematic 

8 analysis. 

9 ‘‘(m) LIMITATIONS ON STATUTORY CONSTRUC10 TION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed—

11 ‘‘(1) to authorize the Bureau to require any 

12 other department or agency to collect data; or 

13 ‘‘(2) to reduce the authority of any other officer 

14 of the Department of Transportation to collect and 

15 disseminate data independently. 

16 ‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN DISCLOSURES.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An officer or employee of 

18 the Bureau may not—

19 ‘‘(A) make any disclosure in which the 

20 data provided by an individual or organization 

21 under subsection (c)(8) can be identified; 

22 ‘‘(B) use the information provided under 

23 subsection (c)(8) for a nonstatistical purpose; 

24 or 
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1 ‘‘(C) permit anyone other than an indi2 vidual authorized by the Director to examine 

3 any individual report provided under subsection 

4 (c)(8). 

5 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON REQUESTS FOR CERTAIN

6 DATA.—

7 ‘‘(A) GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.—No de8 partment, bureau, agency, officer, or employee 

9 of the United States (except the Director in 

10 carrying out this section) may require, for any 

11 reason, a copy of any report that has been filed 

12 under subsection (c)(8) with the Bureau or re13 tained by an individual respondent. 

14 ‘‘(B) COURTS.—Any copy of a report de15 scribed in subparagraph (A) that has been re16 tained by an individual respondent or filed with 

17 the Bureau or any of its employees, contractors, 

18 or agents—

19 ‘‘(i) shall be immune from legal proc20 ess; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) shall not, without the consent of 

22 the individual concerned, be admitted as 

23 evidence or used for any purpose in any 

24 action, suit, or other judicial or adminis25 trative proceeding. 
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1 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY.—This paragraph 

2 shall apply only to reports that permit informa3 tion concerning an individual or organization to 

4 be reasonably inferred by direct or indirect 

5 means. 

6 ‘‘(3) DATA COLLECTED FOR NONSTATISTICAL

7 PURPOSES.—In a case in which the Bureau is au8 thorized by statute to collect data or information for 

9 a nonstatistical purpose, the Director shall clearly 

10 distinguish the collection of the data or information, 

11 by rule and on the collection instrument, so as to in12 form a respondent that is requested or required to 

13 supply the data or information of the nonstatistical 

14 purpose. 

15 ‘‘(o) TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS ANNUAL RE16 PORT.—The Director shall transmit to the President and 

17 Congress a Transportation Statistics Annual Report which 

18 shall include information on items referred to in sub19 section (c)(6), documentation of methods used to obtain 

20 and ensure the quality of the statistics presented in the 

21 report, and recommendations for improving transportation 

22 statistical information. 

23 ‘‘(p) IMPLEMENTATION ANNUAL REPORT.—The Sec24 retary shall prepare an annual report summarizing the 

25 Department’s progress in implementing the requirements 
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1 of this section. The reports shall be submitted to Secretary 

2 of Transportation, to the Committee on Transportation 

3 and Infrastructure and the Committee on Science of the 

4 House of Representatives, and to Committee on Environ5 ment and Public Works of the Senate. 

6 ‘‘(q) PROCEEDS OF DATA PRODUCT SALES.—Not7 withstanding section 3302 of title 31, United States Code, 

8 funds received by the Bureau from the sale of data prod9 ucts, for necessary expenses incurred, may be credited to 

10 the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 

11 Account) for the purpose of reimbursing the Bureau for 

12 the expenses. 

13 ‘‘(r) ADVISORY COUNCIL ON TRANSPORTATION STA14 TISTICS.—

15 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the 

16 Bureau of Transportation Statistics shall establish 

17 an Advisory Council on Transportation Statistics. 

18 ‘‘(2) FUNCTION.—It shall be the function of the 

19 Advisory Council established under this subsection 

20 to—

21 ‘‘(A) advise the Director of the Bureau of 

22 Transportation Statistics on the quality, reli23 ability, consistency, objectiveness, and relevance 

24 of transportation statistics and analyses col25 lected, supported, or disseminated by the Bu-
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•HR 3551 IH 

1 reau of Transportation Statistics and the De2 partment of Transportation; 

3 ‘‘(B) provide input to and review the De4 partment’s Assessment under subsection (d) 

5 and annual data strategic plan required under 

6 subsection (e); and 

7 ‘‘(C) advise the Director on methods to en8 courage harmonization and interoperability of 

9 transportation data collected by the Bureau, the 

10 operating administrations of the Department of 

11 Transportation, States, local governments, met12 ropolitan planning organizations, and private 

13 sector entities. 

14 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Council es15 tablished under this subsection shall be composed of 

16 not less than 15 members appointed by the Director, 

17 who are not officers or employees of the United 

18 States, including—

19 ‘‘(A) 2 members with specific expertise in 

20 economics; 

21 ‘‘(B) 3 members with expertise in statis22 tics; and 

23 ‘‘(C) additional members with expertise in 

24 transportation statistics, analysis, and policy. 
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1 Members shall include representatives of a cross-sec2 tion of the transportation community, including 

3 business, the freight community, State and local 

4 governments, metropolitan planning organizations, 

5 transit, environmental, and community organiza6 tions, and academia. 

7 ‘‘(4) TERMS OF APPOINTMENT.—Members shall 

8 be appointed to staggered terms not to exceed 3 

9 years. A member may be renominated for one addi10 tional 3-year term. 

11 ‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY

12 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee 

13 Act shall apply to the Advisory Council established 

14 under this subsection, except that section 14 of the 

15 Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to 

16 such Advisory Council.’’. 

17 SEC. 108. STATE PLANNING AND RESEARCH. 

18 Section 505 of title 23, United States Code, is 

19 amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘§ 505. State planning and research 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap22 propriated $1,073,000,000 to States for each fiscal year 

23 for expenditure by the States, in consultation with the 

24 Secretary, only for the following purposes: 
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1 ‘‘(1) Engineering and economic surveys and in2 vestigations. 

3 ‘‘(2) The planning of future highway programs 

4 and local public transportation systems, the planning 

5 of the financing of such programs and systems, in6 cluding metropolitan and Statewide planning under 

7 sections 134 and 135, freight planning, safety plan8 ning, transportation systems management and oper9 ations planning, transportation-related land use 

10 planning, and transportation-related growth manage11 ment activities within these planning processes, and 

12 planning capacity building activities. 

13 ‘‘(3) Studies of the economy, safety, and con14 venience of highway, local public transportation, bi15 cycle, and pedestrian systems and the desirable reg16 ulation and equitable taxation of their use. 

17 ‘‘(4) Research, development, and technology 

18 transfer activities necessary in connection with the

19 planning, design, construction, management, mainte20 nance, regulation, and taxation of the use of high21 way, local public transportation, and intermodal 

22 transportation systems. 

23 ‘‘(5) Research on the effects of design stand24 ards on intermodal coordination, such as the high-
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1 way-rail interface, and on safe pedestrian access to 

2 transit on arterial roads and urban highways. 

3 ‘‘(6) Study, research, and training on the engi4 neering standards and construction materials, in5 cluding accreditation of inspection and testing, for 

6 highway, local public transportation, bicycle, pedes7 trian, and intermodal transportation systems. 

8 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EXPENDITURES ON RESEARCH, DE9 VELOPMENT, AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVI10 TIES.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

12 not less than 25 percent of the funds appropriated 

13 pursuant to subsection (a) to a State for a fiscal 

14 year shall be expended by the State for research, de15 velopment, and technology transfer activities de16 scribed in subsection (a), relating to highway, public 

17 transportation, bicycle, pedestrian, and intermodal 

18 transportation systems. 

19 ‘‘(2) WAIVERS.—The Secretary may waive the 

20 application of paragraph (1) with respect to a State 

21 for a fiscal year if the State certifies to the Sec22 retary for the fiscal year that the funds described in 

23 paragraph (1) are not needed for research, develop24 ment, and technology transfer and the Secretary ac25 cepts such certification. 
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1 ‘‘(3) NONAPPLICABILITY OF ASSESSMENT.—

2 Funds expended under paragraph (1) shall not be 

3 considered to be part of the extramural budget of 

4 the agency for the purpose of section 9 of the Small 

5 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638). 

6 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM EXPENDITURES FOR IMPROVING THE

7 QUALITY OF COLLECTION AND REPORTING OF STRA8 TEGIC SURFACE TRANSPORTATION DATA.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

10 not less than 10 percent of the funds appropriated 

11 pursuant to subsection (a) for a fiscal year to a 

12 State shall be expended by the State to improve the 

13 collection and reporting of strategic surface trans14 portation data to provide critical information about 

15 the extent, condition, use, performance, and financ16 ing of the Nation’s surface transportation system 

17 (including intermodal connectors) for passenger and 

18 freight movement. 

19 ‘‘(2) WAIVERS.—The Secretary may waive the 

20 application of paragraph (1) with respect to a State 

21 for a fiscal year if the State certifies to the Sec22 retary for the fiscal year that the State is collecting 

23 and reporting strategic data consistent with quality 

24 assurance guidelines developed cooperatively with the 

25 States and the Secretary approves such certification. 
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1 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

2 cost of a project carried out using funds subject to sub3 section (a) shall be matched in accordance with section 

4 120(b) unless the Secretary determines that the interests 

5 of the surface transportation program would be best 

6 served without such matching.’’. 

7 SEC. 109. FUTURE STRATEGIC HIGHWAY RESEARCH PRO8 GRAM. 

9 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 5 of title 23, United 

10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 509. Future strategic highway research program 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in consulta14 tion with the American Association of State Highway and 

15 Transportation Officials, shall enter into an arrangement 

16 with the National Academy of Sciences for the establish17 ment of a Future Strategic Highway Research Program. 

18 ‘‘(b) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND

19 CONTRACTS.—The Secretary may make grants to, and 

20 enter into cooperative agreements and contracts with, the 

21 American Association of State Highway and Transpor22 tation Officials and the National Academy of Sciences to 

23 carry out activities under this section. Advance payments 

24 may be made as necessary to carry out the program under 

25 this section. Although no matching funds are required for 
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1 this program, collaborative research projects with multiple 

2 sources of funding shall be encouraged. 

3 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY.—Funds set aside to 

4 carry out this section shall remain available for the fiscal 

5 year for which such funds are made available and the 

6 three succeeding fiscal years. 

7 ‘‘(d) SET ASIDE.—There are authorized to be appro8 priated to the Secretary of Transportation for each of fis9 cal years 2004 through 2009, to carry out this section, 

10 $75,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out 

12 the program under this section, the National Academy of 

13 Sciences shall ensure that—

14 ‘‘(1) the selection of projects and researchers 

15 shall be based on the open solicitation of proposals 

16 and be reviewed by panels of appropriate experts; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(2) State transportation officials and other 

19 stakeholders, including business, local governments, 

20 metropolitan planning organizations, environmental 

21 and community organizations, academia, other rel22 evant Federal agencies, and other members of the 

23 transportation community are involved in the gov24 ernance of the program at the executive, the overall 
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1 program, and the technical levels, through the use of 

2 expert panels and committees. 

3 ‘‘(f) CONTENTS.—The program established under 

4 this section shall be based on Transportation Research 

5 Board Special Report 260, entitled ‘Strategic Highway 

6 Research: Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving 

7 Quality of Life’. It shall include the following research 

8 areas: 

9 ‘‘(1) Accelerating the renewal of America’s 

10 highways. 

11 ‘‘(2) Making a significant improvement in high12 way safety. 

13 ‘‘(3) Providing a highway system with reliable 

14 travel times. 

15 ‘‘(4) Providing highway capacity in support of 

16 the Nation’s economic, environmental, multi-modal 

17 transportation, and social goals. 

18 ‘‘(g) PROJECT EVALUATION.—The products of all re19 search grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts 

20 awarded under this section shall be subject to peer review. 

21 ‘‘(h) PROGRAMMATIC EVALUATIONS.—Within 2 years 

22 after the first research project grants, cooperative agree23 ments, or contracts are awarded under this section, the 

24 Secretary shall enter into an arrangement with the Na25 tional Academy of Public Administration to review the 
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1 program under this section, and to recommend improve2 ments. The review shall—

3 ‘‘(1) assess the degree to which projects funded 

4 under this section have addressed the research topics 

5 identified in the research agenda established in 

6 Transportation Research Board Special Report 260, 

7 including identifying those topics which have not yet 

8 been addressed; 

9 ‘‘(2) assess the merit and peer review process 

10 for project proposals, and assess research project re11 sults; and 

12 ‘‘(3) assess the extent of stakeholder involve13 ment in all facets of the program. 

14 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL PROGRESS AND PERFORMANCE RE15 PORT.—The National Academy of Sciences shall produce 

16 an annual progress and performance report for the pro17 gram under this section. The report shall summarize the

18 status, funding, and sponsors of all funded projects by the 

19 research areas specified in subsection (f). It shall docu20 ment the progress of each project relative to milestones 

21 included in the project proposal. The report shall identify 

22 research areas and projects remaining unfunded, and an23 ticipated funding needs for completing that research. The 

24 report shall be submitted to the Secretary, to the Com25 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the 
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1 Committee on Science of the House of Representatives, 

2 and to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

3 of the Senate.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis of 

5 chapter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘509. Future strategic highway research program.’’.

7 SEC. 110. UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTERS. 

8 Section 5505 of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘§ 5505. University transportation research 

11 ‘‘(a) REGIONAL CENTERS.—The Secretary of Trans12 portation shall make grants to nonprofit institutions of 

13 higher learning to establish and operate 1 university 

14 transportation center in each of the 10 United States Gov15 ernment regions that comprise the Standard Federal Re16 gional Boundary System. 

17 ‘‘(b) OTHER CENTERS.—The Secretary shall make 

18 grants to nonprofit institutions of higher learning to es19 tablish and operate university transportation centers, in 

20 addition to the centers receiving grants under subsection 

21 (a), to address transportation management and research 

22 and development matters, with special attention to in23 creasing the number of highly skilled individuals entering 

24 the field of transportation. 

25 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—In order to be eligible to 

2 receive a grant under this section, a nonprofit insti3 tution of higher learning shall submit to the Sec4 retary an application that is in such form and con5 tains such information as the Secretary may require. 

6 ‘‘(2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Except as other7 wise provided by this section, the Secretary shall se8 lect each recipient of a grant under this section 

9 through a competitive, peer-reviewed process on the 

10 basis of the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) For regional centers, the location of 

12 the center within the Federal region to be 

13 served. 

14 ‘‘(B) The demonstrated research and ex15 tension resources available to the recipient to 

16 carry out this section. 

17 ‘‘(C) The capability of the recipient to pro18 vide leadership in making national and regional 

19 contributions to the solution of immediate and 

20 long-range transportation problems. 

21 ‘‘(D) The recipient’s establishment of a 

22 surface transportation program encompassing 

23 several modes of transportation. 

24 ‘‘(E) The recipient’s demonstrated commit25 ment of at least $200,000 in regularly budgeted 
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1 institutional amounts each year to support on2 going transportation research and education 

3 programs. 

4 ‘‘(F) The recipient’s demonstrated ability 

5 to disseminate results of transportation re6 search and education programs through a state7 wide or regionwide continuing education pro8 gram. 

9 ‘‘(G) The strategic plan the recipient pro10 poses to carry out under the grant. 

11 ‘‘(d) OBJECTIVES.—Each university transportation 

12 center receiving a grant under this section shall conduct 

13 the following programs and activities: 

14 ‘‘(1) Basic and applied research that supports 

15 the Department’s research agenda consistent with 

16 section 508 of title 23, the products of which are 

17 peer-reviewed by other experts in the field to ad18 vance the body of knowledge in transportation. 

19 ‘‘(2) An education program that includes multi20 disciplinary course work, faculty and student partici21 pation in research, and an opportunity for practical 

22 experience. 

23 ‘‘(3) An ongoing program of technology transfer 

24 that makes research results available to potential 
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1 users in a form that can be implemented, utilized, 

2 or otherwise applied. 

3 ‘‘(e) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—To be eligible to 

4 receive a grant under this section, an applicant shall—

5 ‘‘(1) enter into an agreement with the Secretary 

6 to ensure that the applicant will maintain total ex7 penditures from all other sources to establish and 

8 operate a university transportation center and re9 lated educational and research activities at a level 

10 that is at least equal to the average level of those 

11 expenditures during the 2 fiscal years before the 

12 date on which the grant is provided; 

13 ‘‘(2) provide the annual institutional contribu14 tion required under subsection (c)(2); 

15 ‘‘(3) submit to the Secretary, in a timely man16 ner, for use by the Secretary in the preparation of 

17 the annual research report under section 508(c)(5) 

18 of title 23, an annual report on the projects and ac19 tivities of the university transportation center for 

20 which funds are made available for the fiscal year 

21 covered by the report, a description of—

22 ‘‘(A) the goals of the center; 

23 ‘‘(B) the educational activities carried out 

24 by the center (including a detailed summary of 

25 the budget for those educational activities); 
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1 ‘‘(C) teaching activities of faculty at the 

2 center; 

3 ‘‘(D) each research project carried out by 

4 the center, including—

5 ‘‘(i) the identity and location of each 

6 investigator working on a research project; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the overall funding amount for 

8 each research project (including the 

9 amounts expended for the project as of the 

10 date of the report); 

11 ‘‘(iii) the current schedule for each re12 search project; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) the results of each research 

14 project through the date of submission of 

15 the report, with particular emphasis on re16 sults for the fiscal year covered by the re17 port; and 

18 ‘‘(E) overall technology transfer and imple19 mentation efforts of the center; 

20 ‘‘(4) make use of National Research Council, 

21 Transportation Research Board, and Transportation 

22 Research Information Services online databases 

23 for—

24 ‘‘(A) program development and strategic 

25 planning; 
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1 ‘‘(B) reporting of activities funded under 

2 this section; and 

3 ‘‘(C) input and dissemination of results 

4 and reports from completed research; and 

5 ‘‘(5) recommend a representative to serve as li6 aison to the Transportation Research Board. 

7 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

8 costs of activities carried out using a grant made under 

9 subsection (a) is 80 percent of costs, and under subsection 

10 (b) is 50 percent of costs. The non-Federal share may in11 clude funds provided to a recipient under section 503, 

12 504(b), or 505 of title 23, United States Code. 

13 ‘‘(g) PROGRAM COORDINATION.—

14 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall co15 ordinate the research, education, training, and tech16 nology transfer activities that grant recipients carry

17 out under this section, disseminate the results of the 

18 research, and establish and operate a clearinghouse. 

19 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REVIEW AND EVALUATION.—At 

20 least annually and consistent with the plan devel21 oped under section 508 of title 23, United States 

22 Code, the Secretary shall review and evaluate pro23 grams the grant recipients carry out. 

24 ‘‘(3) FUNDING LIMITATION.—The Secretary 

25 may use not more than 1 percent of amounts made 
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1 available from Government sources to carry out this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(h) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—

4 Funds made available to carry out this program shall re5 main available for obligation for a period of 2 years after 

6 the last day of the fiscal year for which such funds are 

7 authorized. 

8 ‘‘(i) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants 

9 under this section as follows: 

10 ‘‘(1) For grants under subsection (a)—

11 ‘‘(A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 

12 ‘‘(B) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

13 ‘‘(C) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

14 ‘‘(D) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

15 ‘‘(E) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

16 ‘‘(F) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

17 ‘‘(2) For grants under subsection (b) to centers 

18 that received funding for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 

19 under this section—

20 ‘‘(A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 

21 ‘‘(B) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and 

22 ‘‘(C) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

23 ‘‘(3) For 6 additional grants under subsection 

24 (b)—

25 ‘‘(A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
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1 ‘‘(B) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and 

2 ‘‘(C) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 

3 ‘‘(4) For 16 grants under subsection (b), which 

4 may include grants to centers described in para5 graph (2)—

6 ‘‘(A) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

7 ‘‘(B) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

8 ‘‘(C) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

9 ‘‘(j) TRANSPORTATION EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

10 PILOT PROGRAM.—

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es12 tablish a program to make grants to State Depart13 ments of Transportation, who in conjunction with 

14 nonprofit institutions of higher education, will de15 velop and test new curricula to educate the transpor16 tation workforce. 

17 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In 

18 selecting applications for awards under this sub19 section, the Secretary shall consider—

20 ‘‘(A) the degree to which the new curricula 

21 will address the specific workforce needs of the 

22 State, evaluated on the basis of a State’s devel23 opment of a strategic human resources plan 

24 and how the new curricula will help fulfill the 

25 plan; 
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1 ‘‘(B) the degree to which the new curricula 

2 will provide expertise in areas other than engi3 neering, such as business administration, eco4 nomics, information technology, environmental 

5 science, and law, as determined necessary by 

6 the State; and 

7 ‘‘(C) a State’s commitment to continuing 

8 the program beyond the pilot effort. 

9 ‘‘(3) NUMBER AND AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—For 

10 fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006, the Secretary 

11 shall make 4 grants under this subsection, each in 

12 the amount of $1,000,000. For fiscal years 2007, 

13 2008, and 2009, the Secretary shall make 4 grants 

14 under this subsection, each in the amount of 

15 $500,000.’’. 

16 SEC. 111. INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle C of title V of the Trans18 portation Equity Act for the 21st Century is amended to 

19 read as follows: 

20 ‘‘Subtitle C—Intelligent 

21 Transportation Systems 

22 ‘‘SEC. 5201. SHORT TITLE. 

23 ‘‘This subtitle may be cited as the ‘Intelligent Trans24 portation Systems Act of 2003’. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 5202. GOALS AND PURPOSES. 

2 ‘‘(a) GOALS.—The goals of the intelligent transpor3 tation system program include—

4 ‘‘(1) enhancement of surface transportation ef5 ficiency and facilitation of intermodalism and inter6 national trade to enable existing facilities to meet a 

7 significant portion of future transportation needs, 

8 including public access to employment, goods, and 

9 services, and to reduce regulatory, financial, and 

10 other transaction costs to public agencies and sys11 tem users; 

12 ‘‘(2) achievement of national transportation 

13 safety goals, including the enhancement of safe oper14 ation of motor vehicles and nonmotorized vehicles, 

15 with particular emphasis on decreasing the number 

16 and severity of collisions; 

17 ‘‘(3) protection and enhancement of the natural 

18 environment and communities affected by surface 

19 transportation, with particular emphasis on assisting 

20 State and local governments to achieve national en21 vironmental goals; 

22 ‘‘(4) accommodation of the needs of all users of 

23 surface transportation systems, including operators 

24 of commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles, motor25 cycles, and bicycles, and including pedestrians and 

26 individuals with disabilities; and 
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1 ‘‘(5) improvement of the Nation’s ability to re2 spond to security related or other man made emer3 gencies and natural disasters, and enhancement of 

4 national defense mobility. 

5 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The Secretary shall implement ac6 tivities under the intelligent transportation system pro7 gram to, at a minimum—

8 ‘‘(1) develop and test new and emerging tech9 nologies to meet the goals described in subsection 

10 (a); 

11 ‘‘(2) expedite deployment, in both metropolitan 

12 and rural areas, and ensure integration and inter13 operability of proven intelligent transportation sys14 tems; 

15 ‘‘(3) ensure that Federal, State, and local 

16 transportation officials have adequate knowledge of 

17 intelligent transportation systems for full consider18 ation in the transportation planning process; 

19 ‘‘(4) improve regional cooperation and oper20 ations planning for effective intelligent transpor21 tation system deployment; 

22 ‘‘(5) promote the innovative use of private re23 sources; 
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1 ‘‘(6) develop a workforce capable of developing, 

2 operating, and maintaining intelligent transportation 

3 systems; and 

4 ‘‘(7) evaluate costs and benefits of intelligent 

5 transportation systems projects. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5203. GENERAL AUTHORITIES AND REQUIREMENTS. 

7 ‘‘(a) SCOPE.—Subject to the provisions of this sub8 title, the Secretary shall conduct an ongoing intelligent 

9 transportation system program to research, develop, and 

10 operationally test intelligent transportation systems and 

11 advance nationwide deployment of proven systems through 

12 research on barriers to deployment as a component of the 

13 surface transportation systems of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(b) POLICY.—Intelligent transportation system re15 search, development, operational tests, and deployment 

16 projects funded pursuant to this subtitle shall encourage

17 and not displace public-private partnerships or private sec18 tor investment in such research and development tests and 

19 projects. 

20 ‘‘(c) COOPERATION WITH GOVERNMENTAL, PRI21 VATE, AND EDUCATIONAL ENTITIES.—The Secretary 

22 shall carry out the intelligent transportation system pro23 gram in cooperation with State and local governments and 

24 other public entities, the United States private sector, the 

25 Federal laboratories, and colleges and universities, includ-
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1 ing historically black colleges and universities and other 

2 minority institutions of higher education. 

3 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL OFFICIALS.—

4 In carrying out the intelligent transportation system pro5 gram, the Secretary, as appropriate, shall consult with the 

6 Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Treasury, the 

7 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Administrator of the 

8 Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the Na9 tional Science Foundation, and the heads of other Federal 

10 departments and agencies. 

11 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRAINING, AND IN12 FORMATION.—The Secretary shall provide technical as13 sistance, training, and information to State and local gov14 ernments seeking to implement, operate, maintain, or 

15 evaluate intelligent transportation system technologies and 

16 services. 

17 ‘‘(f) TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.—The Secretary 

18 may provide funding to support adequate consideration of 

19 transportation system management and operations, in20 cluding intelligent transportation systems, within metro21 politan and statewide transportation planning processes. 

22 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall—

24 ‘‘(A) maintain a repository for technical 

25 and safety data collected as a result of federally 
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1 sponsored projects carried out under this sub2 title; and 

3 ‘‘(B) make that information (except for 

4 proprietary information and data) readily avail5 able to all users of the repository at an appro6 priate cost. 

7 ‘‘(2) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

9 delegate the responsibility of the Secretary 

10 under this subsection, with continuing oversight 

11 by the Secretary, to an appropriate entity not 

12 within the Department of Transportation. 

13 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—If the Sec14 retary delegates the responsibility, the entity to 

15 which the responsibility is delegated shall be eli16 gible for Federal assistance under this section. 

17 ‘‘(h) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab19 lish an Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary 

20 on carrying out this subtitle. 

21 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee 

22 shall have no more than 20 members and include, at 

23 a minimum—

24 ‘‘(A) a representative from a State high25 way department; 
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1 ‘‘(B) a representative from a local highway 

2 department; 

3 ‘‘(C) a representative from a State, local, 

4 or regional transit agency; 

5 ‘‘(D) a representative from a metropolitan 

6 planning organization; 

7 ‘‘(E) a private sector vendor of intelligent 

8 transportation system technologies; 

9 ‘‘(F) a private sector user of intelligent 

10 transportation system technologies; 

11 ‘‘(G) an academic researcher who is a civil 

12 engineer; 

13 ‘‘(H) an academic researcher who is a so14 cial scientist; 

15 ‘‘(I) a representative from the Intelligent 

16 Transportation Society of America; 

17 ‘‘(J) a representative from a public interest 

18 group concerned with safety; 

19 ‘‘(K) a representative from a public inter20 est group concerned with community develop21 ment; and 

22 ‘‘(L) members with expertise in planning, 

23 safety, and operations. 

24 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee shall, 

25 at a minimum, perform the following duties—
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1 ‘‘(A) Provide input into the development of 

2 the National ITS Program Plan, and the Intel3 ligent Transportation System portion of each 

4 strategic plan under section 508 of title 23, 

5 United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(B) Review the National ITS Program 

7 Plan and the Intelligent Transportation System 

8 portion of each strategic plan under section 508 

9 of title 23, United States Code, and transmit 

10 the Advisory Committee’s views on the plans to 

11 Congress. 

12 ‘‘(C) Analyze intelligent transportation sys13 tems technologies, for which a plan or budget 

14 proposal has recommended funding for research 

15 and development activities or operational tests, 

16 to advise the Department on—

17 ‘‘(i) whether the intelligent transpor18 tation system technologies are likely to be 

19 deployed by users, and, if not, to determine 

20 the barriers to deployment; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the appropriate roles for govern22 ment and the private sector in investing in 

23 specific intelligent transportation system 

24 technologies; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) whether these activities are like2 ly to advance either the state-of-the-prac3 tice or state-of-the-art in intelligent trans4 portation systems. 

5 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY

6 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Advisory Committee shall be 

7 subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

8 U.S.C. App.). 

9 ‘‘(i) PROCUREMENT METHODS.—

10 ‘‘(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

11 shall develop appropriate technical assistance and 

12 guidance to assist State and local agencies in evalu13 ating and selecting appropriate methods of procure14 ment for intelligent transportation system projects 

15 carried out using funds made available from the 

16 Highway Trust Fund, including innovative and non17 traditional methods such as the Information Tech18 nology Omnibus Procurement. 

19 ‘‘(2) INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

20 SOFTWARE.—To the maximum extent practicable, 

21 contracting officials shall use as a critical evaluation 

22 criterion the Software Engineering Institute’s Capa23 bility Maturity Model, or another similar recognized 

24 software design and development methodology, to re25 duce the cost, schedule, and performance risks asso-
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1 ciated with the development, management, and inte2 gration of intelligent transportation system software. 

3 ‘‘(j) EVALUATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

6 issue guidelines and requirements for the eval7 uation of operational tests and model deploy8 ment projects carried out under this subtitle. 

9 ‘‘(B) CONTENT.—Such evaluations shall 

10 include specific, quantitative measures to deter11 mine whether a technology is meeting its in12 tended goal. To the maximum extent prac13 ticable, these measures shall evaluate the out14 come of the technology (such as accidents 

15 avoided or decreased travel times or travel time 

16 variability).

17 ‘‘(C) OBJECTIVITY AND INDEPENDENCE.—

18 The guidelines and requirements issued under 

19 subparagraph (A) shall include provisions to en20 sure the objectivity and independence of the 

21 evaluator so as to avoid any real or apparent 

22 conflict of interest or potential influence on the 

23 outcome by parties to any such test or deploy24 ment project or by any other formal evaluation 

25 carried out under this subtitle. 
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1 ‘‘(D) FUNDING.—The guidelines and re2 quirements issued under subparagraph (A) shall 

3 establish evaluation funding levels, based on the 

4 size and scope of each test or project, that en5 sure adequate evaluation of the results of the 

6 test or project. 

7 ‘‘(E) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary 

8 shall make readily available through the Inter9 net all information collected through evalua10 tions carried out under this subtitle. 

11 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—Any survey, question12 naire, or interview that the Secretary considers nec13 essary to carry out the evaluation of any test, de14 ployment project, or program assessment activity 

15 under this subtitle shall not be subject to chapter 35 

16 of title 44, United States Code.

17 ‘‘(k) USE OF RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Intelligent transpor18 tation system projects specified in section 5117(b)(3) and 

19 5117(b)(6) and involving privately owned intelligent trans20 portation system components that are carried out using 

21 funds made available from the Highway Trust Fund shall 

22 not be subject to any law or regulation of a State or polit23 ical subdivision of a State prohibiting or regulating com24 mercial activities in the rights-of-way of a highway for 

25 which Federal-aid highway funds have been utilized for 
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1 planning, design, construction, or maintenance, if the Sec2 retary of Transportation determines that such use is in 

3 the public interest. Nothing in this subsection shall affect 

4 the authority of a State or political subdivision of a State 

5 to regulate highway safety. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5204. NATIONAL ITS PROGRAM PLAN. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

8 ‘‘(1) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall publish an 

9 update of the ‘National Intelligent Transportation 

10 Systems Program Plan Five-Year Horizon’, pub11 lished in August, 2000. The Secretary shall consult 

12 with the Advisory Committee established under sec13 tion 5203(h) in carrying out this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) SCOPE.—The National ITS Program Plan 

15 update shall—

16 ‘‘(A) specify the goals, objectives, and mile17 stones for the research and deployment of intel18 ligent transportation systems in the context of 

19 major metropolitan areas, smaller metropolitan 

20 and rural areas, and commercial vehicle oper21 ations; 

22 ‘‘(B) evaluate how the intelligent transpor23 tation systems program has progressed in 

24 achieving the goals, objectives, and milestones 

25 referred to in subparagraph (A); 
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1 ‘‘(C) compare actual outcomes of the intel2 ligent transportation systems program over the 

3 last 5 years to projections from the 2000 Plan 

4 referred to in paragraph (1); 

5 ‘‘(D) for each goal, objective, milestone, or 

6 projection found under subparagraph (B) or 

7 (C) not to have been achieved, document the 

8 barriers to achievement; 

9 ‘‘(E) specify how specific programs and 

10 projects will achieve the goals, objectives, and 

11 milestones referred to in subparagraph (A), in 

12 the next 5 years; 

13 ‘‘(F) specify necessary and realistically 

14 achievable timeframes and funding levels to 

15 conduct the programs and projects referred to 

16 in subparagraph (E) in order to achieve the 

17 goals, objectives, and milestones referred to in 

18 subparagraph (A); 

19 ‘‘(G) develop a plan for addressing barriers 

20 documented under subparagraph (D); 

21 ‘‘(H) identify activities that provide for the 

22 dynamic development of standards and proto23 cols to promote and ensure interoperability in 

24 the implementation of intelligent transportation 
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1 system technologies, including actions taken to 

2 establish critical standards; and 

3 ‘‘(I) establish a cooperative process with 

4 State and local governments for determining 

5 desired surface transportation system perform6 ance levels and developing plans for incorpora7 tion of specific intelligent transportation system 

8 capabilities into surface transportation systems. 

9 ‘‘(b) REPORTING.—The National ITS Program Plan 

10 shall be transmitted to the Congress not later than August 

11 31, 2005. 

12 ‘‘(c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE REVIEW.—The Advisory 

13 Committee established under section 5203(h) shall review 

14 the National ITS Program Plan that is transmitted to 

15 Congress under this section, and shall transmit the Advi16 sory Committee’s views on the Plan to Congress. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 5205. INFORMATION STRATEGY. 

18 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The 

19 Secretary shall develop and implement a strategy to use 

20 information collected from intelligent transportation sys21 tem technologies (including technologies used in roadway, 

22 transit, and in-vehicle applications) for traffic manage23 ment and for planning, performance monitoring, program 

24 assessment, and policy applications. The Secretary shall 

25 ensure that the Bureau of Transportation Statistics plays 
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1 a significant role in the development of the strategy under 

2 this section. 

3 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The strategy developed 

4 under this section shall—

5 ‘‘(1) consider current data sources and propose 

6 future data sources, as well as proposing strategies 

7 for both real-time use and archived use of data; 

8 ‘‘(2) determine what data should be centralized 

9 nationally in support of national planning and goals, 

10 what information should be aggregated regionally, 

11 and what information should be kept locally, and for 

12 nationally centralized data, identify how to ensure 

13 that data is collected and reported consistently; 

14 ‘‘(3) assess the need for data standards; 

15 ‘‘(4) outline how transportation decision proc16 esses can make best use of real-time data; 

17 ‘‘(5) outline a vision for the future linkages be18 tween intelligent transportation system technologies 

19 and data; 

20 ‘‘(6) identify public and private data sources 

21 other than intelligent transportation system data 

22 sources (such as roadway characteristics inventories 

23 and incident information) that, combined with intel24 ligent transportation system data, would enhance the 

25 utility of intelligent transportation system data to 
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1 decisionmakers, and how these data sources can be 

2 merged; 

3 ‘‘(7) identify how to make data most accessible 

4 and useful to users; and 

5 ‘‘(8) identify what information would be useful 

6 to stakeholders at the local, State, regional, and na7 tional levels. 

8 ‘‘(c) STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT.—In developing 

9 the strategy under this section, the Secretary shall involve 

10 developers and users of intelligent transportation system 

11 technologies, including State and local highway depart12 ments, metropolitan planning organizations, transit agen13 cies, travelers, the private sector, not-for-profit organiza14 tions, and representatives from the planning, safety, oper15 ations, and research communities.

16 ‘‘(d) INCORPORATION INTO NATIONAL ARCHITEC17 TURE.—The strategy developed under this section shall, 

18 to the extent practicable, be incorporated into the national 

19 architecture. 

20 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

21 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Sec22 retary shall transmit to the Congress a report outlining 

23 the strategy developed under this section. 

24 ‘‘SEC. 5206. NATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AND STANDARDS. 

25 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
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1 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND

2 MAINTENANCE.—Consistent with section 12(d) of 

3 the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 

4 Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note; 110 Stat. 783), 

5 the Secretary shall develop, implement, and maintain 

6 a national architecture and supporting standards 

7 and protocols to promote the widespread use and 

8 evaluation of intelligent transportation system tech9 nology as a component of the surface transportation 

10 systems of the United States. 

11 ‘‘(2) GOAL.—The goal of the national architec12 ture and standards shall be to ensure interoper13 ability among, and efficiency of, intelligent transpor14 tation system technologies implemented throughout 

15 the United States. 

16 ‘‘(3) USE OF STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT ORGA17 NIZATIONS.—In carrying out this section, the Sec18 retary may use the services of such standards devel19 opment organizations as the Secretary determines to 

20 be appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(4) STANDARD VALIDATION.—The Secretary 

22 shall ensure that new standards promulgated for in23 telligent transportation system technologies are test24 ed and validated, and shall ensure that the results 
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1 of such testing and validation are made publicly 

2 available. 

3 ‘‘(b) PROVISIONAL STANDARDS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary finds that 

5 the development or balloting of an intelligent trans6 portation system standard jeopardizes the timely 

7 achievement of the objectives identified in subsection 

8 (a)(1) and (2), the Secretary may establish a provi9 sional standard after consultation with affected par10 ties, and using, to the extent practicable, the work 

11 product of appropriate standards development orga12 nizations. 

13 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF EFFECTIVENESS.—A provi14 sional standard established under paragraph (1) 

15 shall be published in the Federal Register and re16 main in effect until the appropriate standards devel17 opment organization adopts and publishes a stand18 ard. 

19 ‘‘(c) CONFORMITY WITH NATIONAL ARCHITEC20 TURE.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graphs (2) and (3), the Secretary shall ensure that 

23 intelligent transportation system projects carried out 

24 using funds made available from the Highway Trust 

25 Fund, including funds made available to deploy in-
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1 telligent transportation system technologies, conform 

2 to the national architecture, applicable standards or 

3 provisional standards, and protocols developed under 

4 subsection (a). 

5 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION.—The Sec6 retary may authorize exceptions to paragraph (1) 

7 for—

8 ‘‘(A) projects designed to achieve specific 

9 research objectives outlined in the National ITS 

10 Program Plan under section 5204 or the Sur11 face Transportation Research and Development 

12 Strategic Plan developed under section 508 of 

13 title 23, United States Code; or 

14 ‘‘(B) the upgrade or expansion of an intel15 ligent transportation system in existence on the 

16 date of enactment of the Transportation Equity 

17 Act for the 21st Century, if the Secretary de18 termines that the upgrade or expansion—

19 ‘‘(i) would not adversely affect the 

20 goals or purposes of this subtitle; 

21 ‘‘(ii) is carried out before the end of 

22 the useful life of such system; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) is cost-effective as compared to 

24 alternatives that would meet the con25 formity requirement of paragraph (1). 
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1 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

2 apply to funds used for operation or maintenance of 

3 an intelligent transportation system in existence on 

4 the date of enactment of the Transportation Equity 

5 Act for the 21st Century. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5207. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

8 comprehensive program of research, development, and 

9 operational tests of intelligent vehicles and intelligent in10 frastructure systems, as well as research into barriers to 

11 their deployment, and other similar activities that are nec12 essary to carry out this subtitle. 

13 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY AREAS.—Under the program, the Sec14 retary shall give higher priority to funding projects that—

15 ‘‘(1) reduce congestion in metropolitan regions;

16 ‘‘(2) improve mobility and efficiency by address17 ing traffic management, incident management, tran18 sit management, toll collection, traveler information, 

19 or highway operations systems; 

20 ‘‘(3) improve safety by focusing on crash-avoid21 ance and integration of in-vehicle crash protection 

22 technologies with other onboard safety systems, in23 cluding the interaction of air bags and safety belts; 

24 ‘‘(4) improve security by focusing on responding 

25 to security-related emergencies, and preventing such 
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1 emergencies, through tracking the movement of 

2 goods; 

3 ‘‘(5) incorporate human factors research, in4 cluding the science of the driving process; 

5 ‘‘(6) improve deployment of proven technologies 

6 by addressing nontechnical barriers to the deploy7 ment of intelligent transportation system tech8 nologies, including institutional barriers such as 

9 fragmented authority at the local level, privacy con10 siderations, and rigid procurement rules, and the 

11 best ways to develop partnerships to successfully de12 ploy intelligent transportation system technologies; 

13 ‘‘(7) facilitate the integration of intelligent in14 frastructure, vehicle, and control technologies, in15 cluding magnetic guidance control systems or other 

16 materials or magnetics research; 

17 ‘‘(8) incorporate research on the impact of envi18 ronmental, weather, and natural conditions on intel19 ligent transportation systems, including the effects 

20 of cold climates; or 

21 ‘‘(9) facilitate high-performance transportation 

22 systems, through methods such as congestion pric23 ing, real-time facility management, rapid emergency 

24 response, and just-in-time transit. 
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1 ‘‘(c) OPERATIONAL TESTS.—Operational tests shall 

2 be used to evaluate promising technologies that have not 

3 yet been demonstrated. Operational tests conducted under 

4 this section shall be designed for the collection of data to 

5 permit objective evaluation of the results of the tests, deri6 vation of cost-benefit information that is useful to others 

7 contemplating deployment of similar systems, and develop8 ment and implementation of standards. 

9 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

10 cost of operational tests and demonstrations under sub11 section (a) shall not exceed 80 percent. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 5208. USE OF FUNDS. 

‘‘(a) CONGESTION REDUCTION.—At least 1 13 ⁄3 of funds 

14 spent under section 5207 for intelligent transportation 

15 systems research and development shall be used to re16 search, develop, and operationally test technologies whose 

17 primary purpose is to reduce congestion. 

18 ‘‘(b) OUTREACH AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LIMITA19 TION.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, not 

21 more than $5,000,000 of the funds made available 

22 to carry out this subtitle shall be used for intelligent 

23 transportation system outreach, public relations, dis24 plays, scholarships, tours, and brochures. 
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1 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

2 apply to intelligent transportation system training or 

3 the publication or distribution of research findings, 

4 technical guidance, or similar documents. 

5 ‘‘(c) INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT.—Funds 

6 made available to carry out this subtitle for operational 

7 tests—

8 ‘‘(1) shall be used primarily for the development 

9 of intelligent transportation system infrastructure; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(2) to the maximum extent practicable, shall 

12 not be used for the construction of physical highway 

13 and transit infrastructure unless the construction is 

14 incidental and critically necessary to the implemen15 tation of an intelligent transportation system 

16 project. 

17 ‘‘(d) USE OF INNOVATIVE FINANCING.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use up 

19 to 25 percent of the funds made available to carry 

20 out this subtitle to make available loans, lines of 

21 credit, and loan guarantees for projects that are eli22 gible for assistance under this subtitle and that have 

23 significant intelligent transportation system ele24 ments. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER LAW.—Credit 

2 assistance described in paragraph (1) shall be made 

3 available in a manner consistent with the Transpor4 tation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 

5 1998. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5209. PROGRAM EVALUATION. 

7 ‘‘The Secretary shall enter into an arrangement with 

8 the National Academy of Sciences, or another independent 

9 institution, to evaluate the Department of Transpor10 tation’s intelligent transportation system program. The 

11 evaluation shall assess, at a minimum—

12 ‘‘(1) how well the intelligent transportation sys13 tem program has achieved its goals as set forth in 

14 the 2000 5-year plan referred to in section 

15 5204(a)(1), including—

16 ‘‘(A) expediting integrated intelligent 

17 transportation system deployment in metropoli18 tan and rural areas for both passenger and 

19 freight transportation; 

20 ‘‘(B) ensuring that Federal, State, and 

21 local transportation officials consider intelligent 

22 transportation systems in the transportation 

23 planning process and have adequate knowledge 

24 to do so; 
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1 ‘‘(C) improving regional cooperation and 

2 operations planning for effective intelligent 

3 transportation system deployment; 

4 ‘‘(D) promoting the innovative use of pri5 vate resources; and 

6 ‘‘(E) developing a workforce capable of de7 ploying, operating, and maintaining intelligent 

8 transportation systems; and 

9 ‘‘(2) in areas where the intelligent transpor10 tation system program has not met its goals, assess 

11 the barriers to meeting those goals, and make rec12 ommendations for how those barriers may be over13 come. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5210. DEFINITIONS. 

15 ‘‘In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

16 ‘‘(1) INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION INFRA17 STRUCTURE.—The term ‘intelligent transportation 

18 infrastructure’ means fully integrated public sector 

19 intelligent transportation system components, as de20 fined by the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(2) INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYS22 TEM.—The term ‘intelligent transportation system’ 

23 means electronics, communications, or information 

24 processing used singly or in combination to improve 
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1 the efficiency or safety of a surface transportation 

2 system. 

3 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL ARCHITECTURE.—The term 

4 ‘national architecture’ means the common frame5 work for interoperability adopted by the Secretary 

6 that defines—

7 ‘‘(A) the functions associated with intel8 ligent transportation system user services; 

9 ‘‘(B) the physical entities or subsystems 

10 within which the functions reside; 

11 ‘‘(C) the data interfaces and information 

12 flows between physical subsystems; and 

13 ‘‘(D) the communications requirements as14 sociated with the information flows. 

15 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL ITS PROGRAM PLAN.—The term 

16 ‘National ITS Program Plan’ means the plan update 

17 required under section 5204(a). 

18 ‘‘(5) STANDARD.—The term ‘standard’ means a 

19 document that—

20 ‘‘(A) contains technical specifications or 

21 other precise criteria for intelligent transpor22 tation systems that are to be used consistently 

23 as rules, guidelines, or definitions of character24 istics so as to ensure that materials, products, 
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1 processes, and services are fit for their pur2 poses; and 

3 ‘‘(B) may support the national architecture 

4 and promote—

5 ‘‘(i) the widespread use and adoption 

6 of intelligent transportation system tech7 nology as a component of the surface 

8 transportation systems of the United 

9 States; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) interoperability among intelligent 

11 transportation system technologies imple12 mented throughout the States. 

13 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ has the mean14 ing given the term under section 101 of title 23, 

15 United States Code.’’. 

16 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The items 

17 relating to subtitle C of title V in the table of contents 

18 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century are 

19 amended to read as follows:

‘‘Subtitle C—Intelligent Transportation Systems 

‘‘Sec. 5201. Short title. 

‘‘Sec. 5202. Goals and purposes. 

‘‘Sec. 5203. General authorities and requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 5204. National ITS Program Plan. 

‘‘Sec. 5205. Information strategy. 

‘‘Sec. 5206. National architecture and standards. 

‘‘Sec. 5207. Research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 5208. Use of funds. 

‘‘Sec. 5209. Program evaluation. 

‘‘Sec. 5210. Definitions.’’.
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1 (c) REPEAL.—The Intermodal Surface Transpor2 tation Efficiency Act of 1991 is amended by striking part 

3 B of title VI (23 U.S.C. 307 note; 105 Stat. 2189). 

4 SEC. 112. NATIONAL MULTIMODAL TRENDS POLICY RE5 SEARCH PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

7 carry out a National Multimodal Trends Policy Research 

8 Program that systematically addresses critical short-term, 

9 medium-term, and long-term social science issues affecting 

10 and affected by the transportation system. 

11 (b) CONTENTS.—The program to be carried out 

12 under this section shall include—

13 (1) research on—

14 (A) the critical factors and major trends 

15 affecting the success and performance of the 

16 Nation’s transportation system, as well as how 

17 such information can be incorporated into na18 tional, State, and local decisionmaking; 

19 (B) the short-term, medium-term, and es20 pecially long-term economic, demographic, and 

21 social trends that are affecting and are affected 

22 by the transportation system, including topics 

23 such as—

24 (i) economic trends, including 

25 globalization and it effects on the transpor-
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1 tation of people and goods, rapidly chang2 ing information technology, the growing 

3 importance of metropolitan economies, di4 versification of employment sites, innova5 tions in goods movement, and larger capac6 ity and faster goods movement; 

7 (ii) demographic trends, including 

8 population growth, increasing minority 

9 populations, increasing urbanization, and 

10 the aging of the population; and 

11 (iii) social trends and issues, including 

12 increasing income disparity and its impli13 cation for mobility and access to jobs, serv14 ices and health care, the unique needs of 

15 rural populations, and the link between 

16 human factors and driver behavior; 

17 (C) improvements in evaluation methodolo18 gies and performance measures, and the evalua19 tion of project and transportation system per20 formance relative to the goals set forth in sec21 tion 102; 

22 (D) how institutional factors within and 

23 among the public and private sectors affect the 

24 development and successful deployment of new 

25 technologies; 
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1 (E) links between public health and the 

2 transportation system; and 

3 (F) other critical issues identified by the 

4 Advisory Board established under subsection 

5 (e); and 

6 (2) research on and the development of policy 

7 analysis tools and methods. 

8 (c) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter 

10 into an arrangement with the National Academy of 

11 Sciences to establish an advisory board under subsection 

12 (e) and, except as provided in subsection (e), to support, 

13 administer, and manage the program. 

14 (d) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 2 years after 

15 entering into the arrangement under subsection (c) and 

16 upon each update thereafter, the National Academy of 

17 Sciences shall transmit the strategic plan developed by the 

18 advisory board under subsection (e) to the Secretary, to 

19 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and 

20 the Committee on Science of the House of Representa21 tives, and to the Committee on Environment and Public 

22 Works of the Senate. 

23 (e) ADVISORY BOARD.—
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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The National Academy 

2 of Sciences shall establish an independent advisory 

3 board. 

4 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A majority of members 

6 of the advisory board shall be experts in—

7 (i) transportation social science re8 search; or 

9 (ii) other social science fields with im10 portant or potentially important relation11 ships to transportation, selected after con12 sultation with the Consortium of Social 

13 Science Associations. 

14 Members selected under this subparagraph 

15 shall, to the extent practicable, be evenly di16 vided between experts described in clause (i) 

17 and experts described in clause (ii). 

18 (B) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—Additional 

19 members of the advisory board shall be evenly 

20 balanced among representatives of Federal, 

21 State, and local transportation agencies, other 

22 agencies with appropriate expertise, metropoli23 tan planning organizations, transit operating 

24 agencies, and environmental and other non25 profit organizations. 
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1 (3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The advisory board 

2 shall be responsible for—

3 (A) the development of a strategic plan 

4 which shall specify at a minimum the goals, re5 search priorities, and fiscal needs of the pro6 gram, and which shall be updated periodically; 

7 (B) overseeing the awarding of grants and 

8 contracts to carry out the research strategy; 

9 (C) the development of the annual request 

10 for proposals and the solicitation of proposals 

11 through open competition with peer review; and 

12 (D) the development of project selection 

13 criteria, through an open and public consulta14 tion process with stakeholders. 

15 (4) EVALUATION OF RESEARCH.—Research 

16 contracts and grants under this section shall require 

17 peer review of the research results. 

18 (5) ELIGIBLE RESEARCH.—At least 75 percent 

19 of funds made available for research under this sec20 tion shall support research directed to the priorities 

21 in the strategic plan, and up to 25 percent of such

22 funds may support appropriate sponsor directed re23 search. 

24 (f) DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS.—The 

25 National Academy of Sciences and the Department of 
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1 Transportation shall disseminate research findings under 

2 this section to researchers, practitioners, and decision3 makers, through conferences and seminars, field dem4 onstrations, workshops, training programs, presentations, 

5 testimony to government officials, the Internet, and publi6 cations for the general public. 

7 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS 

8 SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 (a) TRANSIT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

11 of Transportation to carry out sections 5312, 5313, 5314, 

12 5315, and 5322 of title 49, United States Code, and sec13 tion 202 of this Act, relating to research and development, 

14 $75,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 

15 2009. 

16 (b) HIGHWAY SAFETY RESEARCH AND DEVELOP17 MENT.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

18 Secretary of Transportation to carry out section 403 of 

19 title 23, United States Code, relating to research and de20 velopment, such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

21 fiscal years 2004 through 2009. 

22 (c) MOTOR CARRIER RESEARCH AND DEVELOP23 MENT.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

24 Secretary of Transportation to carry out section 31108 

25 of title 49, United States Code, relating to research and 
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1 development, such sums as may be necessary for each of 

2 the fiscal years 2004 through 2009. 

3 SEC. 202. TRANSIT RESEARCH. 

4 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 5 of title 23, United 

5 States Code, as amended by this Act, is further amended 

6 by adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 510. Innovative Practices and Technologies Dem8 onstration and Deployment Program 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab10 lish an Innovative Practices and Technologies Demonstra11 tion and Deployment Program. 

12 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM GOALS.—The goals of the program 

13 are to—

14 ‘‘(1) demonstrate promising new transit prac15 tices and technologies, including new business mod16 els for managing and operating transit systems, that 

17 may increase ridership, increase accessibility, reduce 

18 cost, improve customer satisfaction, and improve 

19 safety; 

20 ‘‘(2) evaluate, refine, and document the per21 formance, benefits, and costs of innovative practices 

22 and technologies; and 

23 ‘‘(3) effectively disseminate information to ac24 celerate deployment of innovative practices and tech25 nologies. 
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1 ‘‘(c) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND

2 CONTRACTS.—The Secretary may make grants to, or 

3 enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with, tran4 sit agencies, States, other Federal agencies, universities 

5 and colleges, private sector entities, and nonprofit organi6 zations to pay the Federal share of the cost of demonstra7 tion and deployment projects concerning innovative prac8 tices and technologies. 

9 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—To receive a grant, cooperative 

10 agreement, or contract under this section, an entity de11 scribed in subsection (c) shall submit an application to the 

12 Secretary. The application shall be in such form and con13 tain such information as the Secretary may require. The 

14 Secretary shall select and approve the applications based 

15 on the following criteria: 

16 ‘‘(1) Whether the project meets the goals of the 

17 program. 

18 ‘‘(2) Merit review. 

19 ‘‘(3) The likelihood that the project will result 

20 in more widespread deployment of the practice or 

21 technology being proposed. 

22 ‘‘(4) Preference shall be given to an application 

23 that represents a public-private partnership. 

24 ‘‘(e) TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION TRANSFER.—

25 The Secretary shall ensure that information about innova-
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1 tive practices and technologies supported under this sec2 tion is made available to transit agencies, State and local 

3 transportation departments, and other interested parties. 

4 Information disseminated under this subsection shall in5 clude both the costs and benefits of deploying an innova6 tive practice or technology, and shall document—

7 ‘‘(1) best practices for adopting successful prac8 tices or technologies; and 

9 ‘‘(2) the transferability of these practices and 

10 technologies. 

11 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

12 cost of a project under this section shall be determined 

13 by the Secretary.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis of 

15 chapter 5 of title 23, United States Code, as amended by 

16 this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new item:

‘‘510. Innovative Practices and Technologies Demonstration and Deployment 

Program.’’.

18 SEC. 203. NATIONAL TRANSIT INSTITUTE. 

19 Section 5315 is amended—

20 (1) in subsection (a)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘public mass transpor22 tation’’ and inserting ‘‘public transportation’’ 

23 each place it appears; 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘mass’’ after ‘‘Govern2 ment-aid’’ and inserting ‘‘public’’; and 

3 (C) in paragraphs (1), (6), (7), and (10) 

4 by striking ‘‘mass’’ each place it appears before 

5 ‘‘transportation’’ and inserting ‘‘public’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘mass’’ each 

7 place it appears. 

8 SEC. 204. HUMAN RESOURCE PROGRAMS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5322 is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

11 the beginning of the first sentence of the section; 

12 and 

13 (2) by adding the following at the end: 

14 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO HIGHER LEARNING INSTITU15 TIONS.—

16 ‘‘(1) The Secretary (or the Secretary of Hous17 ing and Urban Development when required by sec18 tion 5334(i) of this title) may make grants to non19 profit institutions of higher learning— 

20 ‘‘(A) to conduct competent research and 

21 investigations into the theoretical or practical 

22 problems of urban transportation; and 

23 ‘‘(B) to train individuals to conduct fur24 ther research or obtain employment in an orga-
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1 nization that plans, builds, operates, or man2 ages an urban transportation system. 

3 ‘‘(2) Research and investigations under this 

4 subsection include— 

5 ‘‘(A) the design and use of urban public 

6 transportation systems and urban roads and 

7 highways; 

8 ‘‘(B) the interrelationship between various 

9 modes of urban and interurban transportation; 

10 ‘‘(C) the role of transportation planning in 

11 overall urban planning; 

12 ‘‘(D) public preferences in transportation; 

13 ‘‘(E) the economic allocation of transpor14 tation resources; and 

15 ‘‘(F) the legal, financial, engineering, and 

16 esthetic aspects of urban transportation. 

17 ‘‘(3) When making a grant under this sub18 section, the Secretary shall give preference to an in19 stitution that brings together knowledge and exper20 tise in the various social science and technical dis21 ciplines related to urban transportation problems. 

22 ‘‘(c) FELLOWSHIPS.—

23 ‘‘(1) The Secretary may make grants to States, 

24 local governmental authorities, and operators of pub25 lic transportation systems to provide fellowships to 
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1 train personnel employed in managerial, technical, 

2 and professional positions in the mass transportation 

3 field. 

4 ‘‘(2) A fellowship under this subsection may be 

5 for not more than one year of training in an institu6 tion that offers a program applicable to the public 

7 transportation industry. The recipient of the grant 

8 shall select an individual on the basis of dem9 onstrated ability and for the contribution the indi10 vidual reasonably can be expected to make to an ef11 ficient public transportation operation. A grant for 

12 a fellowship may not be more than the lesser of 

13 $65,000 or 75 percent of—

14 ‘‘(A) tuition and other charges to the fel15 lowship recipient; 

16 ‘‘(B) additional costs incurred by the train17 ing institution and billed to the grant recipient; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(C) the regular salary of the fellowship 

20 recipient for the period of the fellowship to the 

21 extent the salary is actually paid or reimbursed 

22 by the grant recipient. 

23 ‘‘(d) OTHER GRANTS.—The Secretary may make 

24 grants to State and local governmental authorities for 
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1 projects that will use innovative techniques and methods 

2 in managing and providing public transportation.’’. 

3 SEC. 205. HIGHWAY SAFETY RESEARCH AND DEVELOP4 MENT. 

5 Section 403(a) (Authority of the Secretary) of title 

6 23, United States Code, is amended by adding the fol7 lowing paragraphs at the end: 

8 ‘‘(4) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.—In ad9 dition to the authority provided under this sub10 section, the Secretary is authorized to use funds ap11 propriated to carry out this section to enhance co12 ordination among Federal agencies involved with 

13 State, local, tribal, and community-based emergency 

14 medical services. In exercising this authority, the 

15 Secretary may coordinate with State and local gov16 ernments, the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of 

17 Indian tribes, private industry, and other interested 

18 parties; collect and exchange emergency medical 

19 services data and information; examine emergency 

20 medical services needs, best practices, and related 

21 technology; and develop emergency medical services 

22 standards and guidelines, and plans for the assess23 ment of emergency medical services systems. 

24 ‘‘(5) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—In addi25 tion to the authority provided under this subsection, 
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1 the Secretary is authorized to use funds appro2 priated to carry out this section to participate and 

3 cooperate in international activities to enhance high4 way safety by such means as exchanging safety in5 formation; conducting safety research; and exam6 ining safety needs, best practices, and new tech7 nology. 

8 ‘‘(6) NATIONAL MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH CAUSA9 TION SURVEY.—In addition to the authority pro10 vided under this subsection, the Secretary is author11 ized to use funds appropriated to carry out this sec12 tion to develop and conduct a nationally representa13 tive survey to collect on-scene motor vehicle crash 

14 causation data.’’. 

15 SEC. 206. MOTOR CARRIER RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY 

16 PROGRAM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 49, United States Code, is 

18 amended by repealing section 31108 and inserting the fol19 lowing new section, to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘§ 31108. Motor carrier research and technology pro21 gram 

22 ‘‘(a) RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY

23 TRANSFER ACTIVITIES.—

24 ‘‘(1) The Secretary of Transportation shall es25 tablish and carry out a motor carrier research and 
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1 technology program. The Secretary may carry out 

2 research, development, technology, and technology 

3 transfer activities with respect to—

4 ‘‘(A) the causes of accidents, injuries and 

5 fatalities involving commercial motor vehicles; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(B) means of reducing the number and 

8 severity of accidents, injuries and fatalities in9 volving commercial motor vehicles. 

10 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may test, develop, or assist 

11 in testing and developing any material, invention, 

12 patented article, or process related to the research 

13 and technology program. 

14 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may use the funds appro15 priated to carry out this section for training or edu16 cation of commercial motor vehicle safety personnel, 

17 including, but not limited to, training in accident re18 construction and detection of controlled substances 

19 or other contraband, and stolen cargo or vehicles.

20 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may carry out this sec21 tion—

22 ‘‘(A) independently; 

23 ‘‘(B) in cooperation with other Federal de24 partments, agencies, and instrumentalities and 

25 Federal laboratories; or 
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1 ‘‘(C) by making grants to, or entering into 

2 contracts or cooperative agreements with, any 

3 Federal laboratory, State agency, authority, as4 sociation, institution, for-profit or non-profit 

5 corporation, organization, foreign country, or 

6 person. 

7 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall use funds made avail8 able to carry out this section to develop, administer, 

9 communicate, and promote the use of products of re10 search, technology, and technology transfer pro11 grams under this section. 

12 ‘‘(b) COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP13 MENT.—

14 ‘‘(1) To advance innovative solutions to prob15 lems involving commercial motor vehicle and motor 

16 carrier safety, security, and efficiency, and to stimu17 late the deployment of emerging technology, the Sec18 retary may carry out, on a cost-shared basis, col19 laborative research and development with—

20 ‘‘(A) non-Federal entities, including State 

21 and local governments, foreign governments, 

22 colleges and universities, corporations, institu23 tions, partnerships, and sole proprietorships 

24 that are incorporated or established under the 

25 laws of any State; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) Federal laboratories. 

2 ‘‘(2) In carrying out this subsection, the Sec3 retary may enter into cooperative research and de4 velopment agreements (as defined in section 12 of 

5 the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

6 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a)). 

7 ‘‘(3)(A) The Federal share of the cost of activi8 ties carried out under a cooperative research and de9 velopment agreement entered into under this sub10 section shall not exceed 50 percent, except that if 

11 there is substantial public interest or benefit, the 

12 Secretary may approve a greater Federal share. 

13 ‘‘(B) All costs directly incurred by the non-Fed14 eral partners, including personnel, travel, and hard15 ware or software development costs, shall be credited 

16 toward the non-Federal share of the cost of the ac17 tivities described in subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(4) The research, development, or use of a 

19 technology under a cooperative research and develop20 ment agreement entered into under this subsection, 

21 including the terms under which the technology may 

22 be licensed and the resulting royalties may be dis23 tributed, shall be subject to the Stevenson-Wydler 

24 Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 

25 et seq.). 
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1 ‘‘(5) Section 3705 of title 41, United States 

2 Code, shall not apply to a contract or agreement en3 tered into under this section.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec5 tions at the beginning of chapter 311 of title 49, United 

6 States Code, is amended by revising the item relating to 

7 section 31108 to read as follows:

‘‘31108. Motor carrier research and technology program.’’.

8 SEC. 207. TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY, AND ENVIRONMENT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—As part of the National Climate 

10 Change Technology Initiative and the Climate Change Re11 search Initiative, the Secretary shall establish and carry 

12 out a multimodal energy and climate change program to 

13 study the relationship of transportation, energy, and cli14 mate change. 

15 (b) CONTENTS.—The program to be carried out 

16 under this section shall include, but not be limited to, re17 search designed to—

18 (1) identify, develop and evaluate strategies to 

19 improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas 

20 emissions from transportation sources; and 

21 (2) identify and evaluate the potential effects of 

22 climate changes on the nation’s transportation sys23 tems, and strategies to address these effects. 

24 (c) PROJECT SELECTION.—Activities to be under25 taken in this program will be determined by an internal 
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1 steering committee established by the Secretary of Trans2 portation. This intermodal committee shall include rep3 resentatives from the Office of the Secretary and oper4 ating administrations within the Department of Transpor5 tation as designated by the Secretary. 

6 (d) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND CON7 TRACTS.—The Secretary may carry out this program inde8 pendently or by making grants to, or entering into con9 tracts and cooperative agreements with, a Federal agency, 

10 State agency, local agency, authority, association, non11 profit or for-profit corporation, or institution of higher 

12 education.

13 SEC. 208. NATIONAL COOPERATIVE FREIGHT TRANSPOR14 TATION RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—To carry out a national coop16 erative freight transportation research program, there is 

17 authorized the following sums: 

18 (1) $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 

19 and 2005. 

20 (2) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 

21 and 2007. 

22 (3) $12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 

23 and 2009. 
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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 23, United 

2 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘§ 509. National Cooperative Freight Transportation 

5 Research Program 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab7 lish and support a national cooperative freight transpor8 tation research program. 

9 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall enter into an 

10 agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to sup11 port and carry out administrative and management activi12 ties relating to the governance of the national cooperative 

13 freight transportation research program. 

14 ‘‘(c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The National Acad15 emy of Sciences shall select an advisory committee con16 sisting of a representative cross-section of freight stake17 holders, including the Department of Transportation, 

18 other Federal agencies, State transportation departments, 

19 local governments, the American Association of State 

20 Highway and Transportation Officials and other nonprofit 

21 entities (including environmental groups), academia, and 

22 the private sector. 

23 ‘‘(d) GOVERNANCE.—The national cooperative 

24 freight transportation research program established under 
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1 this section shall include the following administrative and 

2 management elements: 

3 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL RESEARCH AGENDA.—The advi4 sory committee, in consultation with stakeholders, 

5 shall recommend a national research agenda for the 

6 national cooperative freight transportation research 

7 program. The national research agenda shall include 

8 a multi-year strategic plan. 

9 ‘‘(2) STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT.—Stake10 holders may—

11 ‘‘(A) submit research proposals to the advi12 sory committee; 

13 ‘‘(B) participate in merit reviews of re14 search proposals and peer reviews of research 

15 products; and 

16 ‘‘(C) receive research results. 

17 ‘‘(3) OPEN COMPETITION AND PEER REVIEW OF

18 RESEARCH PROPOSALS.—The National Academy of 

19 Sciences shall award research contracts and grants

20 through open competition and merit review con21 ducted on a regular basis. 

22 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION OF RESEARCH.—

23 ‘‘(A) PEER REVIEW.—Research contracts 

24 and grants shall allow peer review of the re25 search results. 
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1 ‘‘(B) PROGRAMMATIC EVALUATIONS.—The 

2 National Academy of Sciences may conduct 

3 periodic programmatic evaluations on a regular 

4 basis. 

5 ‘‘(5) DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FIND6 INGS.—The National Academy of Sciences shall dis7 seminate research findings to researchers, practi8 tioners, and decision-makers, through conferences 

9 and seminars, field demonstrations, workshops, 

10 training programs, presentations, testimony to gov11 ernment officials, world wide web, publications for 

12 the general public, and other appropriate means. 

13 ‘‘(e) CONTENTS.—The national research agenda for 

14 the national cooperative freight transportation research 

15 program required under subsection (d)(1) shall include re16 search in the following areas: 

17 ‘‘(1) Techniques for estimating and quantifying 

18 public benefits derived from freight transportation 

19 projects. 

20 ‘‘(2) Alternative approaches to calculating the 

21 contribution of truck traffic to congestion on specific 

22 highway segments. 

23 ‘‘(3) The feasibility of freight villages as a 

24 means of consolidating origins and destinations for 

25 freight movement. 
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1 ‘‘(4) Methods for incorporating estimates of 

2 international trade into landside transportation plan3 ning. 

4 ‘‘(5) The use of technology applications to in5 crease capacity of highway lanes dedicated to truck6 only traffic. 

7 ‘‘(6) Development of physical and policy alter8 natives for separating car and truck traffic. 

9 ‘‘(7) Ways to synchronize infrastructure im10 provements with freight transportation demand. 

11 ‘‘(8) The effect of changing patterns of freight 

12 movement on transportation planning decisions re13 lating to rest areas. 

14 ‘‘(9) Additional priorities to identify and ad15 dress the emerging and future research needs re16 lated to freight transportation. 

17 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—

18 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

19 the cost of an activity carried out using such funds 

20 shall be up to 100 percent, and such funds shall re21 main available until expended. 

22 ‘‘(2) USE OF NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—In addi23 tion to using funds authorized for this section, the 

24 National Academy of Sciences may seek and accept 

25 additional funding sources from public and private 
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1 entities capable of accepting funding from the 

2 United States Department of Transportation (Fed3 eral Highway Administration, Federal Transit Ad4 ministration, Federal Railroad Administration, Re5 search and Special Programs Administration, and 

6 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra7 tion), states, local governments, nonprofit founda8 tions, and the private sector.’’. 

9 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

10 chapter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

11 redesignating section 509 as follows:

‘‘509. National cooperative freight transportation research program.’’.

12 SEC. 209. NEXT GENERATION NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 

13 POLICY STUDY COMMISSION. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.—(1) The 

15 President shall established a Commission to be known as 

16 the Next Generation National Transportation Policy 

17 Study Commission, in this section referred to as the 

18 ‘‘Commission’’. 

19 (2) The Commission shall make a full and complete 

20 investigation and study of the transportation needs and 

21 of the resources, requirements, and policies of the United 

22 States to meet such expected needs. It shall take into con23 sideration all reports on national transportation policy 

24 which have been submitted to Congress in the last decade, 

25 including all reports referenced in the Intermodal Surface 
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1 Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and the Transpor2 tation Equity Act of the 21st Century. It shall also take 

3 into consideration the changes in global trade and its im4 pact on the Nation’s economy. It shall evaluate the relative 

5 merits of all modes of transportation in meeting our Na6 tion’s transportation needs. It shall take into account the 

7 link between transportation and the natural environment. 

8 Based on such study, it shall recommend changes to exist9 ing policies and any new policies that are most likely to 

10 ensure that adequate multimodal transportation systems 

11 are in place which will meet the needs for a safe and effi12 cient movement of people and goods and also support and 

13 grow the national economy. 

14 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com15 prised of 16 members appointed by the President from 

16 among individuals who are knowledgeable in transpor17 tation activities, including individuals representing State 

18 and local governments, metropolitan planning organiza19 tions, transportation-related industries, academic and 

20 technical institutions, and public interest organizations in21 volved with scientific, regulatory, economic, and environ22 mental transportation activities. The membership of the 

23 Commission shall be balanced geographically to the extent 

24 consistent with maintaining the highest level of expertise 
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1 on the Commission. Members shall be appointed for the 

2 life of the Commission as follows: 

3 (1) 4 shall be appointed from a list of 8 individ4 uals who shall be recommended by the majority lead5 er of the Senate in consultation with the Chairman 

6 of the Committee on Environment and Public 

7 Works, and the Chairman of the Committee on 

8 Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the 

9 Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing 

10 and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

11 (2) 4 shall be appointed from a list of 8 individ12 uals who shall be recommended by the minority lead13 er of the Senate in consultation with the ranking 

14 member of the Committee on Environment and Pub15 lic Works, the ranking member of the Committee on 

16 Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the 

17 ranking member of the Committee on Banking, 

18 Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

19 (3) 4 shall be appointed from a list of 8 individ20 uals who shall be recommended by the Speaker of 

21 the House of Representatives in consultation with 

22 the Chairman of the Committee on Transportation 

23 and Infrastructure, the Chairman of the Committee 

24 on Energy and Commerce, and the Chairman of the 
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1 Committee on Science of the House of Representa2 tives. 

3 (4) 4 shall be appointed from a list of 8 individ4 uals who shall be recommended by the minority lead5 er of the House of Representatives in consultation 

6 with the ranking member of the Committee on 

7 Transportation and Infrastructure, the ranking 

8 member of the Committee on Energy and Com9 merce, and the ranking member of the Committee 

10 on Science of the House of Representatives. 

11 (5) Any vacancy which may occur on the Com12 mission shall not affect its powers or functions but 

13 shall be filled in the same manner in which the origi14 nal appointment was made. 

15 (c) FINAL REPORT.—The Commission shall not later 

16 than December 31, 2005, submit to the President and 

17 Congress its final report including its findings and rec18 ommendations. The Commission shall cease to exist six 

19 months after submission of such report. All records and

20 papers of the Commission shall thereupon be delivered to 

21 the Administrator of General Services for deposit in the 

22 Archives of the United States. 

23 (d) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The final 

24 report shall include the Commission’s findings and rec25 ommendations with respect to the following: 
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1 (1) The Nation’s transportation needs, both na2 tional and regional, through the year 2025. 

3 (2) The ability of our current transportation 

4 systems to meet the projected needs. 

5 (3) The proper mix of transportation modes 

6 and necessary linkages between modes to meet an7 ticipated needs. 

8 (4) Necessary measures and policies to ensure 

9 enhancement and protection of the natural environ10 ment in transportation decisionmaking. 

11 (5) Short-term, medium-term, and long-term 

12 research, development, and deployment to meet ex13 pected needs. 

14 (6) The roles of the public and private sectors 

15 relative to each mode and the balance between public 

16 and private investment. 

17 (7) The existing policies and programs of the 

18 Federal Government which affect the development of 

19 our national transportation system. 

20 (8) The new policies required to develop a bal21 anced national transportation system which meets 

22 projected needs, accommodates international trade 

23 and supports the national economy. 
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1 (9) The adequacy of existing methods to fi2 nance transportation and alternative new methods of 

3 financing. 

4 (e) SPECIFIC FACTORS TO CONSIDER.—In devel5 oping its findings and recommendations, the Commission 

6 shall address the following specific factors: 

7 (1) The role of transportation as a critical link 

8 to the global economy and trade. 

9 (2) A balance between the transportation of 

10 people and goods. 

11 (3) Improving operations and management of 

12 the transportation system to improve efficiency, in13 cluding asset and information management. 

14 (4) The need to address aging infrastructure. 

15 (5) The need to address the enhancement and 

16 protection of the natural environment. 

17 (6) The need to address congestion in all 

18 modes. 

19 (7) The need to improve environmental deci20 sionmaking. 

21 (8) A balance between the demand for transpor22 tation reliability with new threats to security. 

23 (9) Ways to eliminate barriers to transportation 

24 investment created by the current modal structure of 

25 transportation funding. 
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1 (10) Existing barriers to private investment in 

2 transportation facilities including tax inequities be3 tween modes. 

4 (11) The adequacy of the Federal transpor5 tation trust funds to finance future transportation 

6 needs. 

7 (12) Appropriate measures of transportation 

8 need. 

9 (13) The adequacy of integration among Fed10 eral programs affecting transportation. 

11 (14) The relationship between land use and 

12 transportation infrastructure investment. 

13 (15) The role that transportation plays in pro14 moting economic growth, improving the environment 

15 and sustaining the quality of life. 

16 (f) RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE ROLES OF GOVERN17 MENT.—The Commission shall also make recommenda18 tions on the roles of the Federal and State governments 

19 in—

20 (1) environmental review of transportation 

21 projects; 

22 (2) the provision of intercity passenger rail 

23 services; 

24 (3) financing transportation at international 

25 border crossings; 
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1 (4) facilitating international goods movement 

2 to, from and within the United States; 

3 (5) ensuring consistency in data and commu4 nications links for and between all modes; 

5 (6) financing for each mode of transportation; 

6 and 

7 (7) effectively using transportation networks to 

8 enhance the quality of life, protect natural resources 

9 and promote sustainable economic growth. 

10 (g) PARTICIPATION IN COMMISSION ACTIVITIES.—

11 (1) PARTICIPATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES..—

12 The Chairman of the Commission shall request the 

13 head of each Federal department or agency with an 

14 interest in or a responsibility for national transpor15 tation policy to appoint a liaison who shall work 

16 closely with the Committee and its staff. Such de17 partments and agencies shall include, but not be lim18 ited to, the Department of Transportation, and each 

19 of its modal administrations, Office of Management 

20 and Budget, Department of Energy, Department of 

21 Homeland Security, Environmental Protection Agen22 cy, Department of Health and Human Services, De23 partment of Commerce, Department of the Treas24 ury, Department of Defense, Department of Agri25 culture, National Transportation Safety Board, Sur-
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1 face Transportation Board, and Army Corps of En2 gineers. 

3 (2) ADVICE FROM PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ORGA4 NIZATIONS.—In carrying out its duties, the Commis5 sion shall seek the advice of various groups inter6 ested in national transportation policy including 

7 State and local governments, public and private or8 ganizations in the fields of transportation and safe9 ty, business, education, environment and labor, and 

10 the public. 

11 (h) HEARINGS.—The Commission or, on the author12 ization of the Commission, any Committee of two or more 

13 members may, for the purpose of carrying out the provi14 sions of this section, hold such hearings at such times and 

15 places as the Commission or such authorized committee 

16 may deem advisable. 

17 (i) COMPENSATION.—Members of Congress or other 

18 governmental employees shall serve without compensation, 

19 but shall be reimbursed for travel, per diem in accordance 

20 of the rules of the House of Representatives and Senate, 

21 accordingly, or subsistence and other necessary expenses 

22 incurred in the performance of the duties vested in the 

23 Commission. 

24 (j) COMMISSION STAFF.—The Commission is author25 ized to appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director 
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1 and such additional personnel as may be necessary to en2 able it to carry out its functions. 

3 (k) CONTRACTS.—The Commission is authorized to 

4 enter into contracts or agreements for studies and surveys 

5 with public and private organizations and, if necessary, 

6 to transfer funds to Federal agencies from sums appro7 priated pursuant to this section to carry out such of its 

8 duties as the Commission determines can best be carried 

9 our in the that manner. 

10 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—(1) 

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 

12 section such sums as may be necessary. 

13 (2) Funds authorized by this subsection shall remain 

14 available until expended. 

15 SEC. 210. REAL-TIME SYSTEM MANAGEMENT INFORMATION 

16 PROGRAM. 

17 (a) GOALS AND PURPOSES.—

18 (1) GOALS.—The goals of the real-time system 

19 management information program are to provide the

20 nationwide capability to monitor, in real-time, the 

21 traffic and travel conditions of our nation’s major 

22 highways and to widely share that information to 

23 improve the security of the surface transportation 

24 system, address congestion problems, support im-
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1 proved response to weather events, and facilitate na2 tional and regional traveler information. 

3 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the real-time 

4 system management information program are to—

5 (A) establish a nationwide system of basic 

6 real-time information for managing and oper7 ating our surface transportation system; 

8 (B) identify longer range real-time high9 way and transit monitoring needs and develop 

10 plans and strategies for meeting those needs; 

11 and 

12 (C) provide the capability and means to 

13 share that data with state and local govern14 ments, and the traveling public. 

15 (b) DATA EXCHANGE FORMATS.—Within one year of 

16 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish data 

17 exchange formats to ensure that the data provided by 

18 highway and transit monitoring systems, including state19 wide incident reporting systems can readily be exchanged 

20 across jurisdictional boundaries, facilitating nationwide 

21 availability of information. 

22 (c) STATEWIDE INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM.—

23 Within 2 years of enactment of this legislation, each State 

24 shall establish a statewide incident reporting system. 
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1 (d) REGIONAL INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYS2 TEM ARCHITECTURE.—

3 (1) As State and local governments develop or 

4 update their regional ITS architectures, as specified 

5 in section 940.9 of title 23, Code of Federal Regula6 tions (Regional ITS Architecture), they shall explic7 itly address their real-time highway and transit in8 formation needs and the systems needed to meet 

9 those needs. This specific incorporation of informa10 tion needs should address coverage, monitoring sys11 tems, data fusion and archiving, and methods of ex12 changing or sharing this information. 

13 (2) States are encouraged to incorporate the 

14 data exchange formats developed by the Secretary to 

15 ensure that the data provided by highway and tran16 sit monitoring systems can readily be exchanged 

17 across state and local governments, and with the 

18 traveling public. 

19 (e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘state20 wide incident reporting system’’ means a statewide system 

21 for facilitating the real-time electronic reporting of inci22 dents to a central location for use in monitoring the event, 

23 providing accurate traveler information, and responding to 

24 the incident as appropriate. 
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1 SEC. 211. PLANNING CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE. 

2 Section 104 of title 23, United States Code, is 

3 amended by inserting after subsection (i), as added by this 

4 Act, the following: 

5 ‘‘(j) PLANNING CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab7 lish a planning capacity building initiative to support 

8 enhancements in transportation planning, in order 

9 to—

10 ‘‘(A) strengthen metropolitan and state11 wide transportation planning under chapter 52 

12 of title 49; 

13 ‘‘(B) enhance tribal capacity to conduct 

14 joint transportation planning under Chapter 2 

15 of this title; and 

16 ‘‘(C) participate in the metropolitan and 

17 statewide transportation planning programs 

18 under chapter 52 of title 49. 

19 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri20 ority to planning practices and processes that sup21 port homeland security planning, performance based 

22 planning, safety planning, operations planning, 

23 freight planning, and integration of environment and 

24 planning. 

25 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds authorized for 

26 this program may be used for research, program de-
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1 velopment, information collection and dissemination, 

2 and technical assistance. The Secretary may use 

3 these funds independently or make grants to, or 

4 enter into contracts and cooperative agreements 

5 with, a Federal agency, State agency, local agency, 

6 federally recognized Indian tribal government or 

7 tribal consortium, authority, association, nonprofit 

8 or for-profit corporation, or institution of higher 

9 education, to carry out the purposes of this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

12 the cost of an activity carried out using such funds 

13 shall be up to 100 percent, and such funds shall re14 main available until expended. 

15 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATION.—This initiative shall be 

16 administered by the Federal Highway Administra17 tion in cooperation with the Federal Transit Admin18 istration.’’.

Æ