I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6247 

To optimize transportation through efficient operations and maintenance 

programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. CARNAHAN (for himself and Mr. ROGERS of Michigan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To optimize transportation through efficient operations and 

maintenance programs. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Technologies 

5 for Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Congestion on our roadways is hampering 

9 American’s daily lives, slowing down commerce, pol10 luting the environment we live in, and wasting fuel. 


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1 It is estimated that in our metropolitan commu2 nities, more than 4,200,000,000 hours are wasted 

3 sitting in traffic, resulting in 2,800,000,000 gallons 

4 of wasted fuel and costing more than 

5 $87,000,000,000 annually. With our growing popu6 lation and demand for freight transportation ex7 pected to double by 2035, failure to address traffic 

8 congestion adds to the cost of goods movement and 

9 threatens the Nation’s economic competitiveness and 

10 quality of life. 

11 (2) Even with a record decline in traffic fatali12 ties in 2009, nearly 34,000 people were killed on 

13 United States roads, the equivalent of more than 

14 200 fully loaded 737 airliners. The economic cost 

15 alone of traffic fatalities and injuries has been esti16 mated at $230,000,000,000 each year. 

17 (3) The transportation sector contributes nearly 

18 one third of the Nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, 

19 while wasted fuel from idling vehicles and stop-and20 go traffic puts family budgets in the red, drives up 

21 the cost of goods and services, and increases our Na22 tion’s dependence on foreign oil. 

23 (4) The United States cannot continue to sim24 ply build our way into a safer, cleaner, and more ef25 ficient transportation system. We must make better 


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1 use of the tools that are available, including intel2 ligent transportation systems (ITS), to actively man3 age our transportation network to improve safety, 

4 efficiency, and multimodal connectivity. 

5 (5) Technology solutions are available today to 

6 help cities and States reduce congestion and emis7 sions, make our roads and transit systems safer, and 

8 provide the public with improved access to transpor9 tation options and real-time information to make ef10 ficient travel decisions. 

11 (6) ITS technologies are cost effective and 

12 quick to deploy, with solutions like synchronized and 

13 adaptive traffic signals yielding a $40 return in time 

14 and fuel savings for every $1 invested while also re15 ducing carbon dioxide emissions up to 22 percent 

16 and travel delays by 25 percent. The Government 

17 Accountability Office found the benefit-cost ratio of 

18 a nationwide real-time traffic information system to 

19 be 25 to 1, with a $1,200,000,000 investment re20 turning more than $30,000,000,000 in safety, mobil21 ity and environmental benefits. The overall benefit22 cost ratio of ITS-enabled operational improvements 

23 is estimated at 9 to 1, a significant return on invest24 ment when compared to the addition of new highway 


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1 capacity which has an estimated benefit-to-cost ratio 

2 of 2.7 to 1. 

3 (7) An estimated 31 percent of traffic crashes 

4 could be prevented or have their impact reduced 

5 through the deployment of collision avoidance tech6 nologies, according to the Insurance Institute for 

7 Highway Safety. Moreover, the Department of 

8 Transportation estimates that a comprehensive vehi9 cle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure commu10 nications network could prevent or reduce the im11 pact of up to 82 percent of non-alcohol related traf12 fic fatalities. 

13 (8) Transitioning to a more efficient, perform14 ance based transportation network requires ITS 

15 technologies to provide accurate, real-time traffic 

16 and multimodal transportation system information 

17 necessary for measuring performance, as well as for 

18 actively managing the transportation network to op19 timize capacity and meet or exceed system perform20 ance goals. 

21 (9) Effective transportation financing mecha22 nisms of today and tomorrow depend on ITS to be 

23 viable, including electronic toll collection, dynamic 

24 pricing, integrated payment systems for transit, 


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1 tolls, parking and other services, and potential fu2 ture alternatives such as mileage-based user fees. 

3 (10) Investing in ITS creates good jobs, with 

4 an average of 50 percent of ITS project spending 

5 going directly to wages and salaries as compared to 

6 20 percent for new highway construction. Research7 ers from the London School of Economics and the 

8 Information Technology and Innovation Foundation 

9 (referred to in this section as ‘‘ITIF’’) have found 

10 that investing in ITS creates a network effect 

11 throughout the economy and stimulates job creation 

12 across multiple sectors, including green jobs, high13 tech, automotive, information technology, consumer 

14 electronics, and related industries. In addition, in15 vesting in ITS provides a foundation for long-term 

16 benefits including government cost savings, econ17 omy-wide productivity, and an improved quality of 

18 life. 

19 (11) The lack of Federal investment in ITS has 

20 caused the Nation to fall behind other world innova21 tion leaders. A 2010 ITIF report found that the 

22 United States is lagging behind Japan, South 

23 Korea, Singapore, and other leading Asian and Eu24 ropean nations in the deployment of ITS tech25 nologies. These countries have generated significant 


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1 benefits for their citizens, economy, and environment 

2 by investing heavily in ITS solutions. In order to 

3 strengthen the Nation’s economic competitiveness 

4 and quality of life, it is in the interest of the United 

5 States to encourage the accelerated development and 

6 deployment of intelligent transportation systems. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

9 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti10 ty’’ means State and local governments, including 

11 territories of the United States, tribal governments, 

12 transit agencies, port authorities, metropolitan plan13 ning organizations, other political subdivisions of a 

14 State or local government, and multi-State or multi15 jurisdictional groups applying through a single lead 

16 applicant. 

17 (2) ITS.—The term ‘‘ITS’’ means intelligent 

18 transportation systems. 

19 (3) MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL GROUP.—The term 

20 ‘‘multi-jurisdictional group’’ means a combination of 

21 State governments, locals governments, metropolitan 

22 planning agencies, transit agencies, or other political 

23 subdivisions of a State, that have signed a written 

24 agreement to implement the SMART Communities 

25 program across jurisdictional boundaries. Each 


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1 member of the group, including the lead applicant, 

2 must be an eligible entity to receive a grant under 

3 this Act. 

4 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Transportation. 

6 SEC. 4. SMART COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 

8 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary shall establish the Smart Communities Technology 

10 Initiative which provides grants to eligible entities to de11 velop pilot programs to serve as model deployment sites 

12 for large scale installation and operation of ITS to im13 prove safety, mobility, and the environment. The Secretary 

14 shall develop criteria for selection of an eligible entity to 

15 receive a grant, including how the deployment of tech16 nology impacts the following: 

17 (1) Ability to deliver environmental benefits and 

18 reduce energy consumption by alleviating congestion 

19 and streamlining traffic flow. 

20 (2) Ability to measure and improve the oper21 ational performance of its transportation network. 

22 (3) Ability to reduce the number and severity of 

23 traffic collisions and increase driver, passenger, and 

24 pedestrian safety. 


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1 (4) Availability of user-friendly traffic, transit, 

2 parking, and other transportation-related informa3 tion to improve mobility, reduce congestion, and pro4 vide for more efficient and accessible transportation 

5 alternatives. 

6 (5) Ability to provide lower-cost solutions for 

7 managing multimodal transportation systems and 

8 optimizing existing capacity. 

9 (6) Deliver economic benefits by reducing 

10 delays, improving system performance, and providing 

11 for the efficient movement of goods and services. 

12 (b) REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 6 

13 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary shall request applications in accordance with sec15 tion 5 for participation in the Smart Communities Tech16 nology Initiative. 

17 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) GRANT APPLICATION.—To be considered for a 

19 grant under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an 

20 application to the Secretary that includes the following: 

21 (1) DEPLOYMENT PLAN.—A plan to deploy and 

22 provide for the long-term operation and maintenance 

23 of intelligent transportation systems to improve safe24 ty, mobility, and the environment, such as— 


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1 (A) real-time integrated traffic, transit, 

2 parking, and multimodal transportation infor3 mation; 

4 (B) advanced traffic, freight, and incident 

5 management systems; 

6 (C) collision avoidance systems; 

7 (D) advanced technologies to improve tran8 sit and commercial operations; 

9 (E) operational improvements, such as 

10 synchronized, adaptive and/or transit pref11 erential traffic signals; and 

12 (F) other technologies, including ITS ap13 plications necessary for multimodal systems in14 tegration and for achieving performance goals. 

15 (2) OBJECTIVES.—Quantifiable system per16 formance improvements, including reducing traffic17 related crashes, congestion, and emissions, opti18 mizing multimodal system efficiency, and improving 

19 access to transportation choices. 

20 (3) RESULTS.—Quantifiable safety, mobility, 

21 and environmental benefit projections including data 

22 driven estimates of how the project will improve the 

23 region’s transportation system efficiency and reduce 

24 traffic congestion. 


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1 (4) PARTNERSHIPS.—A plan for partnering 

2 with the private sector, public agencies including 

3 multimodal and multijurisdictional entities, research 

4 institutions, stakeholder organizations representing 

5 the ITS industry, and other transportation stake6 holders. 

7 (5) LEVERAGING.—A plan to leverage and opti8 mize existing local and regional ITS investments. 

9 (6) INTEROPERABILITY.—A plan to ensure 

10 interoperability of deployed technologies with other 

11 tolling, traffic management, and intelligent transpor12 tation systems. 

13 (b) GRANT SELECTION.— 

14 (1) GRANT AWARDS.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec16 retary shall award a grant to no more than 6 eligible 

17 entities with funds available for up to 5 fiscal years. 

18 (2) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In awarding a 

19 grant under this section, the Secretary shall ensure, 

20 to the extent practicable, that grant recipients rep21 resent diverse geographic areas of the United States, 

22 including urban, suburban, and rural areas. 


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1 SEC. 6. USES OF FUNDS. 

2 A grant recipient may use funds authorized in this 

3 Act to deploy, operate, and maintain ITS and ITS-enabled 

4 operational strategies, including— 

5 (1) advanced traveler information systems; 

6 (2) advanced transportation management sys7 tems; 

8 (3) advanced infrastructure maintenance and 

9 construction technology; 

10 (4) advanced public transportation systems; 

11 (5) transportation system performance data col12 lection and analysis systems; 

13 (6) advanced safety systems, including vehicle14 to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communica15 tions and other collision avoidance technologies; 

16 (7) electronic pricing and tolling systems; and 

17 (8) advanced mobility and access technologies, 

18 such as dynamic ridesharing. 

19 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

20 (a) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Not later than 1 year 

21 after an eligible entity receives a grant award under this 

22 Act and each year thereafter, each grant recipient shall 

23 submit a report to the Secretary that describes— 

24 (1) deployment and operational cost compared 

25 to the benefits and savings from the pilot program 

26 and compared to other alternative approaches; and 


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1 (2) how the project has met the original expec2 tation as projected in the deployment plan submitted 

3 with the application, including— 

4 (A) data on how the program has helped 

5 reduce traffic crashes, congestion, emissions, 

6 and other benefits of the deployed systems; 

7 (B) data on the effect of optimizing 

8 multimodal system performance and improving 

9 access to transportation alternatives; 

10 (C) the effectiveness of providing real-time 

11 integrated traffic, transit, parking, and 

12 multimodal transportation information to the 

13 public to make informed travel decisions; and 

14 (D) lessons learned and recommendations 

15 for future deployments strategies to optimize 

16 transportation efficiency and multimodal system 

17 performance. 

18 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

19 after grants have been allocated and each year thereafter, 

20 the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that de21 scribes the effectiveness of grant recipients in meeting 

22 their projected deployment plan, including data on how the 

23 program has— 

24 (1) reduced traffic-related fatalities and inju25 ries; 


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1 (2) reduced traffic congestion and improved 

2 travel time reliability; 

3 (3) reduced transportation-related emissions; 

4 (4) optimized multimodal system performance; 

5 (5) improved access to transportation alter6 natives; 

7 (6) provided the public with access to real-time 

8 integrated traffic, transit, parking, and multimodal 

9 transportation information to make informed travel 

10 decisions; 

11 (7) provided cost savings related to operational 

12 efficiencies; and 

13 (8) provided other benefits to transportation 

14 users and the general public. 

15 (c) ADDITIONAL GRANTS.—If the Secretary deter16 mines from a grant recipient’s reports that the recipient 

17 is not carrying out the requirements of the grant, the Sec18 retary may cease to provide any additional grant funds 

19 to the recipient. The Secretary shall have the authority 

20 to redistribute remaining funds to select additional eligible 

21 entities for pilot programs under this Act. 

22 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 (a) FUNDING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund to 

3 carry out this Act— 

4 (A) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

5 (B) $225,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 

6 (C) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; 

7 (D) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; 

8 and 

9 (E) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

10 (2) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—Funds authorized 

11 under this subsection shall be available for obligation 

12 in the same manner as if the funds were apportioned 

13 under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, ex14 cept that such funds shall not be transferable, the 

15 obligation limitations shall not apply to such funds, 

16 and shall remain available until expended. 

17 (b) GRANT LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not 

18 award more than 25 percent of the amount appropriated 

19 under this Act to a single grant recipient. 

20 (c) EXPENSES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—A grant 

21 recipient under this Act may use not more than 5 percent 

22 of the grant award each fiscal year to carry out planning 

23 and reporting requirements. 

24 (d) EXPENSES FOR SECRETARY.—Before awarding 

25 grant funds under this Act, the Secretary may set aside 


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1 $1,000,000 each fiscal year for program reporting and ad2 ministrative costs. 

Æ 


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