I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5591 

To enhance transportation programs in order to connect people to jobs, 

schools, and other essential services through a multimodal transportation 

network, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Ms. FUDGE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To enhance transportation programs in order to connect 

people to jobs, schools, and other essential services 

through a multimodal transportation network, and for 

other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Con5 nections to Opportunity Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN PLAN DEVELOPMENT. 

7 (a) SECTION 134 AMENDMENT.—Section 134(i) of 

8 title 23, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting after sub2 paragraph (C) the following: 

3 ‘‘(D) PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT.—Metropoli4 tan planning organizations shall offer interested 

5 parties, such as those described in paragraph 

6 (6), a reasonable opportunity to participate in 

7 the development and consideration of sce8 narios.’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking ‘‘comment 

10 on the transportation plan’’ and inserting ‘‘provide 

11 input during the development and implementation of 

12 the transportation plan’’. 

13 (b) SECTION 135 AMENDMENT.—Section 

14 135(f)(3)(A)(ii) of title 23, United States Code, is amend15 ed by striking ‘‘comment on the transportation plan’’; and 

16 inserting ‘‘provide input during the development of the 

17 transportation plan’’. 

18 (c) SECTION 5303 AMENDMENT.—Section 5303(i) of 

19 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting after sub21 paragraph (C) the following: 

22 ‘‘(D) PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT.—Metropoli23 tan planning organizations shall offer interested 

24 parties, such as those described in paragraph 

25 (6), a reasonable opportunity to participate in 


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1 the development and consideration of different 

2 scenarios.’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘comment on 

4 the transportation plan’’ and inserting ‘‘provide 

5 input during the development and implementation of 

6 the transportation plan’’. 

7 (d) SECTION 5304 AMENDMENT.—Section 

8 5304(f)(3)(A)(ii) of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended by striking ‘‘comment on the proposed plan’’; 

10 and inserting ‘‘provide input during the development of 

11 the transportation plan’’. 

12 SEC. 3. CONNECTION TO OPPORTUNITY NATIONAL GOAL 

13 AND POTENTIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE. 

14 (a) TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIONS TO OPPOR15 TUNITY.—Section 150(b) of title 23, United States Code, 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘highway in18 frastructure asset system’’ and inserting ‘‘infrastruc19 ture asset system under this title’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(8) MULTIMODAL CONNECTIVITY.—To achieve 

22 an interconnected transportation system which con23 nects people to jobs, schools, and other essential 

24 services through a multimodal network.’’. 


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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEAS2 URES.—Section 150(c) of title 23, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘as listed in 

5 paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6)’’ before the period; 

6 and 

7 (2) by adding the following at the end: 

8 ‘‘(7) MULTIMODAL FREIGHT.—The Secretary 

9 may, in accordance with the national freight stra10 tegic plan under section 167, establish performance 

11 measures to assess the efficiency of the multimodal 

12 freight network. 

13 ‘‘(8) TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIVITY.—The 

14 Secretary may, in accordance with the framework es15 tablished in section 134, establish a performance 

16 measure to be used by metropolitan planning organi17 zations to assess the degree to which the transpor18 tation system provides multimodal connections to op19 portunity, particularly for transportation-disadvan20 taged populations.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. MEASURING TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIVITY 

22 PILOT ACTIVITIES. 

23 (a) TITLE 23.—Section 134 of title 23, United States 

24 Code, is further amended by inserting at the end, the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(r) MEASURING TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIONS

2 TO OPPORTUNITY.— 

3 ‘‘(1) CONNECTION TO OPPORTUNITY PILOT

4 PROGRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

6 shall establish a pilot program in which not 

7 more than 10 metropolitan planning organiza8 tions shall develop and deploy 1 or more pilot 

9 measures and targets to improve multimodal 

10 connectivity and increase connections for dis11 advantaged Americans and neighborhoods with 

12 limited transportation options. 

13 ‘‘(B) PILOT LOCATIONS.—The Secretary 

14 shall select not more than 10 metropolitan plan15 ning organizations in not more than 10 loca16 tions, each of which is the sole metropolitan 

17 planning organization serving an urbanized 

18 area of more than 1,000,000 residents, which 

19 shall include— 

20 ‘‘(i) metropolitan planning organiza21 tions that have demonstrated previous suc22 cessful use of performance measurements 

23 and performance-based planning efforts, 

24 which the Secretary shall designate as 

25 mentor grantees; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) metropolitan planning organiza2 tions that have limited or no successful 

3 previous experience in performance meas4 urements and performance-based planning 

5 efforts, which the Secretary shall designate 

6 as novice grantees. 

7 ‘‘(C) PILOT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(i) TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIVITY

9 INVENTORY.—Not later than 6 months 

10 after selection as a pilot location, and in 

11 consultation with appropriate States, tran12 sit agencies, and local governments, metro13 politan planning organizations in pilot lo14 cations, the selected metropolitan planning 

15 organization shall develop an inventory of 

16 transportation assets within such organiza17 tion’s metropolitan planning area which 

18 describes— 

19 ‘‘(I) the condition of key high20 way, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian 

21 facilities; 

22 ‘‘(II) the degree to which these 

23 facilities provide residents with con24 nections to opportunity; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the identity and location of 

2 transportation-disadvantaged popu3 lations within the planning area; and 

4 ‘‘(IV) local challenges to 

5 multimodal connectivity, such as zon6 ing or land use issues, availability of 

7 affordable housing, and physical bar8 riers that obstruct access from resi9 dential areas to opportunity. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—Not 

11 later than 1 year after selection as a pilot 

12 location, a metropolitan planning organiza13 tion in such pilot location shall apply the 

14 baseline data it developed in clause (i) to 

15 adopt 1 or more provisional measures to 

16 assess multimodal connectivity improve17 ments in the transportation system, includ18 ing measurements of multimodal 

19 connectivity improvements available to 

20 transportation-disadvantaged populations 

21 identified in clause (i)(III) and appropriate 

22 to local assets and needs. 

23 ‘‘(iii) DATA COLLECTION AND RE24 PORTING.—A metropolitan planning orga25 nization selected as a pilot location shall 


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1 collect baseline and annual performance 

2 data on multimodal transportation 

3 connectivity to opportunity and report 

4 these data to the Secretary throughout the 

5 duration of the pilot project. 

6 ‘‘(iv) KNOWLEDGE-SHARING.—A met7 ropolitan planning organization designated 

8 as a mentor grantee shall engage in knowl9 edge-sharing activities with novice grantees 

10 to the extent feasible, which may include 

11 peer exchanges and technical assistance. 

12 ‘‘(v) PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION.— 

13 ‘‘(I) Notwithstanding section 

14 120, a metropolitan planning organi15 zation may use funds remaining after 

16 the completion of the transportation 

17 connectivity inventory, development of 

18 provisional measures, and related 

19 tracking activities to pay the non-Fed20 eral share to implement projects with21 in the metropolitan planning area de22 scribed in subclause (II). 

23 ‘‘(II) The projects referred to in 

24 subclause (I) are projects that are 

25 reasonably anticipated to address sysVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Sep 29, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5591.IH H5591

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1 tem gaps and improve performance 

2 according to the locally adopted provi3 sional multimodal transportation 

4 connectivity measures. 

5 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE DE6 VELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall re7 serve not more than $9,000,000 of the amount au8 thorized for this subsection for the 4-year period be9 ginning in fiscal year 2015 for use on evaluation of 

10 multimodal connectivity measures developed by met11 ropolitan planning organizations in pilot locations, 

12 and to consider development of a national indicator 

13 to measure the multimodal connections to oppor14 tunity provided by the transportation network, in15 cluding the following activities: 

16 ‘‘(A) NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

17 AND PEER EXCHANGE FORUMS.—The Secretary 

18 shall support the measure development and 

19 data collection of metropolitan planning organi20 zations in pilot locations through technical as21 sistance and peer exchanges, and through work22 shops with States, transit agencies, and metro23 politan planning organizations to discuss pilot 

24 program findings, and establish an online col25 laboration center for local jurisdictions to share 


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1 ideas and challenges, and document lessons 

2 learned. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONNECTION TO OPPORTUNITY

4 FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the pilot pro5 gram, the Secretary shall issue a final report in 

6 consultation with the Secretary of the Depart7 ment of Housing and Urban Development, the 

8 Secretary of the Department of Commerce and 

9 the Administrator of the Environmental Protec10 tion Agency, and after seeking public comment. 

11 The report shall document the outcomes of the 

12 pilot program and make recommendations on 

13 the establishment of 1 or more national 

14 multimodal connectivity measures, and shall in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(i) the results of the efforts of the 

17 pilot program to measure and improve 

18 multimodal connectivity; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary’s recommendations 

20 for 1 or more national connectivity meas21 ures and integrating them into the Federal 

22 transportation performance management 

23 framework, in accordance with section 150; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) an assessment of social out2 comes and impacts that may result from 

3 the pilot measures as well as estimated 

4 savings to Federal, State, and local social 

5 service subsidy programs, as well as other 

6 costs avoided and new tax revenues attrib7 utable to increased connectivity. 

8 ‘‘(C) POTENTIAL RULEMAKING.—After 

9 publication of the final report under subpara10 graph (B), the Secretary, in consultation with 

11 State departments of transportation, metropoli12 tan planning organizations, and other stake13 holders, may issue a rulemaking that estab14 lishes performance measures and standards as 

15 described in section 150(c)(8). 

16 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub17 section— 

18 ‘‘(A) the term ‘opportunity’ means jobs, 

19 schools, and health care services; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the term ‘transportation-disadvan21 taged’ means an individual who faces challenges 

22 in securing or accessing transportation due to 

23 age, disability, or income constraints, including 

24 lack of access to transportation or a private ve25 hicle.’’. 


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1 (b) TITLE 49.—Section 5303 of title 49, United 

2 States Code, is amended by inserting at the end, the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(r) MEASURING TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIONS

5 TO OPPORTUNITY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) CONNECTION TO OPPORTUNITY PILOT

7 PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

9 shall establish a pilot program in not more than 

10 10 metropolitan planning organizations shall 

11 develop and deploy 1 or more pilot measures 

12 and targets to improve multimodal connectivity 

13 and increase connections for transportation-dis14 advantaged and neighborhoods with limited 

15 transportation options. 

16 ‘‘(B) PILOT LOCATIONS.—The Secretary 

17 shall select not more than 10 metropolitan plan18 ning organizations in not more than 10 loca19 tions, each of which is the sole metropolitan 

20 planning organization serving an urbanized 

21 area of more than 1,000,000 residents, which 

22 shall include— 

23 ‘‘(i) metropolitan planning organiza24 tions that have demonstrated previous suc25 cessful use of performance measurements 


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1 and performance-based planning efforts, 

2 which the Secretary shall designate as 

3 mentor grantees; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) metropolitan planning organiza5 tions that have limited or no successful 

6 previous experience in performance meas7 urements and performance-based planning 

8 efforts, which the Secretary shall designate 

9 as novice grantees. 

10 ‘‘(C) PILOT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(i) TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIVITY

12 INVENTORY.—Not later than 6 months 

13 after selection as a pilot location, and in 

14 consultation with appropriate States, tran15 sit agencies, and local governments, metro16 politan planning organizations in pilot lo17 cations, the selected metropolitan planning 

18 organization shall develop an inventory of 

19 transportation assets within such organiza20 tion’s metropolitan planning area which 

21 describes— 

22 ‘‘(I) the condition of key high23 way, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian 

24 facilities; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the degree to which these 

2 facilities provide residents with con3 nections to opportunity; 

4 ‘‘(III) the identity and location of 

5 transportation-disadvantaged popu6 lations within the planning area; and 

7 ‘‘(IV) local challenges to 

8 multimodal connectivity, such as zon9 ing or land use issues, availability of 

10 affordable housing, and physical bar11 riers that obstruct access from resi12 dential areas to opportunity. 

13 ‘‘(ii) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—Not 

14 later than 1 year after selection as a pilot 

15 location, a metropolitan planning organiza16 tion in such pilot location shall apply the 

17 baseline data it developed in clause (i) to 

18 adopt 1 or more provisional measures to 

19 assess multimodal connectivity improve20 ments in the transportation system, includ21 ing measurements of multimodal 

22 connectivity improvements available to 

23 transportation-disadvantaged populations 

24 identified in clause (i)(III) and appropriate 

25 to local assets and needs. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) DATA COLLECTION AND RE2 PORTING.—A metropolitan planning orga3 nization selected as a pilot location shall 

4 collect baseline and annual performance 

5 data on multimodal transportation 

6 connectivity to opportunity and report 

7 these data to the Secretary throughout the 

8 duration of the pilot project. 

9 ‘‘(iv) KNOWLEDGE-SHARING.—A met10 ropolitan planning organization designated 

11 as a mentor grantee shall engage in knowl12 edge-sharing activities with novice grantees 

13 to the extent feasible, which may include 

14 peer exchanges and technical assistance. 

15 ‘‘(v) PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION.— 

16 ‘‘(I) Notwithstanding section 

17 120, a metropolitan planning organi18 zation may use funds remaining after 

19 the completion of the transportation 

20 connectivity inventory, development of 

21 provisional measures, and related 

22 tracking activities to pay the non-Fed23 eral share to implement projects with24 in the metropolitan planning area de25 scribed in subclause (II). 


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1 ‘‘(II) The projects referred to in 

2 subclause (I) are projects that are 

3 reasonably anticipated to address sys4 tem gaps and improve performance 

5 according to the locally adopted provi6 sional multimodal transportation 

7 connectivity measures. 

8 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE DE9 VELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary shall re10 serve not more than $9,000,000 of the amount au11 thorized for this subsection for the 4-year period be12 ginning in fiscal year 2015 for use on evaluation of 

13 multimodal connectivity measures developed by met14 ropolitan planning organizations in pilot locations, 

15 and to consider development of a national indicator 

16 to measure the multimodal connections to oppor17 tunity provided by the transportation network, in18 cluding the following activities: 

19 ‘‘(A) NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

20 AND PEER EXCHANGE FORUMS.—The Secretary 

21 shall support the measure development and 

22 data collection of metropolitan planning organi23 zations in pilot locations through technical as24 sistance and peer exchanges, and through work25 shops with States, transit agencies, and metroVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:26 Sep 29, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5591.IH H5591

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1 politan planning organizations to discuss pilot 

2 program findings, and establish an online col3 laboration center for local jurisdictions to share 

4 ideas and challenges, and document lessons 

5 learned. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONNECTION TO OPPORTUNITY

7 FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the pilot pro8 gram under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

9 issue a final report in consultation with the 

10 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

11 the Secretary of Commerce, and the Adminis12 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

13 and after seeking public comment. The report 

14 shall document the outcomes of the pilot pro15 gram and make recommendations on the estab16 lishment of 1 or more national multimodal 

17 connectivity measures, and shall include— 

18 ‘‘(i) the results of the efforts of the 

19 pilot locations to measure and improve 

20 multimodal connectivity; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary’s recommendations 

22 for 1 or more national connectivity meas23 ures and integrating them into the Federal 

24 transportation performance management 


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1 framework in accordance with section 150; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iii) an assessment of social out4 comes and impact that may result from the 

5 pilot measures as well as estimated savings 

6 to Federal, State, and local social service 

7 subsidy programs, as well as other costs 

8 avoided and new tax revenues attributable 

9 to increased connectivity. 

10 ‘‘(C) POTENTIAL RULEMAKING.—Not later 

11 than 2 years after the publication of the final 

12 report under subparagraph (B), the Secretary, 

13 in consultation with State departments of 

14 transportation, metropolitan planning organiza15 tions, and other stakeholders, may issue a rule16 making that establishes performance measures 

17 and standards. 

18 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub19 section— 

20 ‘‘(A) the term ‘opportunity’ means jobs, 

21 schools, and health care services; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the term ‘transportation-disadvan23 taged’ means an individual who faces challenges 

24 in securing or accessing transportation due to 

25 age, disability, or income constraints, including 


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1 lack of access to transportation or a private ve2 hicle.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DATA SUPPORT PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DATA SUPPORT

6 PROGRAM.—Section 150 of title 23, United States Code, 

7 is amended by inserting at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(f) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DATA SUP9 PORT.—To assist metropolitan planning organizations, 

10 States, and the Department in carrying out performance 

11 management analyses, including the performance manage12 ment requirements of this chapter, the Secretary shall cre13 ate and maintain data sets and data analysis tools. Such 

14 sets and tools may include— 

15 ‘‘(1) collecting and distributing vehicle probe 

16 data describing traffic on the National Highway 

17 System; 

18 ‘‘(2) collecting data regarding household travel 

19 behavior in crossing local jurisdictional boundaries; 

20 ‘‘(3) enhancing existing data collection and 

21 analysis tools to accommodate performance meas22 ures, targets, and related data; 

23 ‘‘(4) enhancing existing data analysis tools to 

24 improve performance predictions in reports described 


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1 in subsection (e) of this section or section 5405 of 

2 title 49; and 

3 ‘‘(5) developing tools to improve performance 

4 analysis and evaluate the effects of project invest5 ments on performance.’’. 

6 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 120 of such title is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(l) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DATA SUPPORT

9 PROGRAM.—The Federal share payable for an activity de10 veloped under the performance management data support 

11 program under section 150(f) shall be 100 percent of the 

12 cost of the activity.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. MULTIMODAL ACCOMMODATIONS. 

14 (a) DESIGN STANDARDS.—Section 109 of title 23, 

15 United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (c)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘may take into ac19 count’’ and inserting ‘‘shall take into ac20 count’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking paragraph (1)(C) and 

22 inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(C) access and safety for users of all fore24 seeable modes of transportation.’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘may de2 velop’’ and inserting ‘‘shall develop’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (m), by— 

4 (A) striking ‘‘and light motorcycles’’; and 

5 (B) inserting ‘‘, safe, convenient, and con6 tinuous’’ before ‘‘alternate route’’. 

7 (b) TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES.— 

8 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 120 of title 23, 

9 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘(m) TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM.— 

12 The Federal share requirements under this section appli13 cable to the transportation alternatives program under 

14 section 213 may be met based on— 

15 ‘‘(1) an individual project or activity under that 

16 section; or 

17 ‘‘(2) a program of projects or activities ap18 proved under subsection (c)(6)(B) of that section.’’. 

19 (2) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Section 213 of 

20 such title is amended in subsection (a)(1) by striking 

21 ‘‘of fiscal years 2013 and 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘fis22 cal year’’. 

23 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Section 213(c)(4)(B) 

24 of such title is amended by— 


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1 (A) redesignating clauses (vi) and (vii) as 

2 clauses (viii) and (ix); and 

3 (B) inserting after clause (v) the following: 

4 ‘‘(vi) a nonprofit organization; 

5 ‘‘(vii) a metropolitan planning organi6 zation (except in the case of a competitive 

7 process carried out by such metropolitan 

8 planning organization under subparagraph 

9 (A));’’. 

10 (4) PROGRAM OF PROJECTS.—Section 213(c) of 

11 such title is further amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM OF PROJECTS.—Funds may be 

14 obligated under this section for— 

15 ‘‘(A) a project or activity eligible under 

16 subsection (b); or 

17 ‘‘(B) a program of projects or activities eli18 gible under that subsection. 

19 ‘‘(7) ADMINISTRATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION OF PROJECT AGREE21 MENT.—For each fiscal year, each State shall 

22 submit a project agreement that— 

23 ‘‘(i) certifies that the State will meet 

24 all the requirements of this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) notifies the Secretary of the 

2 amount of obligations needed to carry out 

3 the program under this section. 

4 ‘‘(B) REQUEST FOR ADJUSTMENTS OF

5 AMOUNTS.—Each State shall request from the 

6 Secretary such adjustments to the amount of 

7 obligations referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

8 as the State determines to be necessary. 

9 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF APPROVAL BY THE SEC10 RETARY.—Approval by the Secretary of a 

11 project agreement under subparagraph (A) 

12 shall be deemed a contractual obligation of the 

13 United States to pay funds made available 

14 under this title.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF A BROADBAND INFRASTRUC16 TURE INITIATIVE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

18 broadband infrastructure initiative to expand right-of-way 

19 use to accommodate broadband infrastructure and im20 prove broadband access in unserved and underserved 

21 areas. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall require 

23 each State to meet the following requirements: 


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1 (1) STATE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE

2 NEEDS.—Each State department of transportation 

3 shall— 

4 (A) identify the broadband infrastructure 

5 needs of the State in coordination with other 

6 State and local agencies and the Federal Re7 sponder Network Authority established in sec8 tion 6204 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and 

9 Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1424); 

10 (B) designate a broadband utility coordi11 nator to incorporate such needs into future 

12 Federal-aid highway projects as described in 

13 paragraph (2); 

14 (C) provide an online system for any 

15 broadband infrastructure entity to register for 

16 inclusion in efforts to address such needs as de17 scribed in such paragraph; and 

18 (D) include broadband infrastructure enti19 ties in transportation plans and programs de20 scribed in sections 134 and 135 of title 23, 

21 United States Code. 

22 (2) BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE COORDINA23 TION PLAN.—Each State department of transpor24 tation shall— 


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1 (A) implement a plan based on the needs 

2 described in paragraph (1)(A) to promote the 

3 installation of broadband infrastructure in 

4 rights-of-way; 

5 (B) target such installation in unserved 

6 and underserved areas; 

7 (C) minimize repeated excavations in 

8 rights-of-way through coordination described in 

9 paragraph (1)(B); and 

10 (D) coordinate, to the extent practicable, 

11 such deployment with other telecommunications 

12 and local land use and transportation plans. 

13 (3) RIGHT-OF-WAY ACCESS.—Notwithstanding 

14 any other provision of law— 

15 (A) Each State department of transpor16 tation shall— 

17 (i) consider new technology and con18 struction practices to promote the safe and 

19 efficient accommodation of broadband in20 frastructure in rights-of-way; 

21 (ii) permit the broadband utility coor22 dinator to authorize any broadband infra23 structure entity to install broadband infra24 structure in rights-of-way; and 


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1 (iii) ensure that authorized broadband 

2 infrastructure entities have access to 

3 rights-of-way without charge for installa4 tion, operation, and maintenance of 

5 broadband infrastructure; and 

6 (B) each State department of transpor7 tation may— 

8 (i) restrict such access in the interest 

9 of safety; and 

10 (ii) designate any longitudinal area to 

11 accommodate broadband infrastructure. 

12 (c) STATE FLEXIBILITY.—A State meeting the re13 quirements under subsection (b) may use funds authorized 

14 for the surface transportation program under section 133 

15 of title 23, United States Code, and the national highway 

16 performance program under section 119 of such title, to 

17 install broadband infrastructure as part of a Federal-aid 

18 highway project located in an unserved or underserved 

19 area, and the broadband infrastructure may be used to 

20 support nontransportation purposes in addition to trans21 portation purposes. 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘broadband infrastructure’’ 

24 means buried or aerial facilities that provide wired 


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1 or wireless connections to enable users to send and 

2 receive data. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘broadband infrastructure entity’’ 

4 means any entity that installs, owns, or operates 

5 broadband infrastructure and provides services to 

6 members of the public. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘broadband utility coordinator’’ 

8 means an individual responsible for coordinating the 

9 broadband infrastructure needs of the State with 

10 Federal-aid highway projects. 

11 (4) The term ‘‘Federal-aid highway’’ has the 

12 same meaning given such term in section 101(a)(6) 

13 of title 23, United States Code. 

14 (5) The term ‘‘longitudinal area’’ means the 

15 area along the length of a highway. 

16 (6) The term ‘‘project’’ has the same meaning 

17 given that term in section 101(a)(18) of title 23, 

18 United States Code. 

19 (7) The terms ‘‘right-of-way’’ and ‘‘rights-of20 way’’ mean real property, or interest therein, ac21 quired, dedicated, or reserved for the construction, 

22 operation, and maintenance of a Federal-aid high23 way. 

24 (8) The term ‘‘State’’ means any of the States, 

25 the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of 


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28 

•HR 5591 IH

1 Puerto Rico, that receive funds under title 23, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (9) The term ‘‘underserved area’’ means an 

4 area in which— 

5 (A) 50 percent or less of households have 

6 access to the minimum broadband speed; 

7 (B) no provider offers service speeds of at 

8 least 3 Mbps; or 

9 (C) 40 percent or less of the households 

10 choose to subscribe to a broadband service. 

11 (10) The term ‘‘unserved area’’ means an area 

12 that does not have access to broadband services at 

13 speeds of at least 768 Kbps download/200 Kbps 

14 upload. 

Æ 


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