I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 995 
To improve transportation safety, efficiency, and system performance through 
innovative technology deployment and operations. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2011 
Mr. CARNAHAN (for himself and Mr. ROGERS of Michigan) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To improve transportation safety, efficiency, and system per-
formance through innovative technology deployment and 
operations. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Technologies 
for Communities Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Congestion on our roadways is hampering 
American’s daily lives, slowing down commerce, pol-
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luting the environment we live in, and wasting fuel. 
It is estimated that in our metropolitan commu-
nities, the average commuter wasted 34 hours in 
2009 sitting in traffic, resulting in 3,900,000,000 
gallons of wasted fuel and costing more than 
$115,000,000,000 annually. With our growing popu-
lation and demand for freight transportation ex-
pected to double by 2035, failure to address traffic 
congestion adds to the cost of goods movement and 
threatens the Nation’s economic competitiveness and 
quality of life. 
(2) Even with a record decline in traffic fatali-
ties in 2009, nearly 34,000 people were killed on 
United States roads, the equivalent of more than 
200 fully loaded 737 airliners. The economic cost 
alone of traffic fatalities and injuries has been esti-
mated at $230,000,000,000 each year. 
(3) The transportation sector contributes nearly 
one-third of the Nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, 
while wasted fuel from idling vehicles and stop-and- 
go traffic puts family budgets in the red, drives up 
the cost of goods and services, and increases our Na-
tion’s dependence on foreign oil. 
(4) The United States cannot continue to sim-
ply build our way into a safer, cleaner, and more ef-
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ficient transportation system. We must make better 
use of the tools that are available, including intel-
ligent transportation systems (ITS), to actively man-
age our transportation network to improve safety, 
efficiency, and multimodal connectivity. 
(5) Technology solutions are available today to 
help cities and States reduce congestion and emis-
sions, make our roads and transit systems safer, and 
provide the public with improved access to transpor-
tation options and real-time information to make ef-
ficient travel decisions. 
(6) Transitioning to electric and other alter-
native fueled vehicles requires the integration of in-
telligent transportation systems with the Smart Grid 
and other energy distribution and charging systems. 
(7) ITS technologies are cost effective and 
quick to deploy, with solutions like synchronized and 
adaptive traffic signals yielding a $40 return in time 
and fuel savings for every $1 invested while also re-
ducing carbon dioxide emissions up to 22 percent 
and travel delays by 25 percent. The Government 
Accountability Office found the benefit-cost ratio of 
a nationwide real-time traffic information system to 
be 25 to 1, with a $1,200,000,000 investment re-
turning more than $30,000,000,000 in safety, mobil-
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ity, and environmental benefits. The overall benefit- 
cost ratio of ITS-enabled operational improvements 
is estimated at 9 to 1, a significant return on invest-
ment when compared to the addition of new highway 
capacity which has an estimated benefit-to-cost ratio 
of 2.7 to 1. 
(8) An estimated 31 percent of traffic crashes 
could be prevented or have their impact reduced 
through the deployment of collision avoidance tech-
nologies, according to the Insurance Institute for 
Highway Safety. Moreover, the Department of 
Transportation estimates that a comprehensive vehi-
cle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure commu-
nications network could potentially prevent or reduce 
the impact of 81 percent of all unimpaired vehicle 
crashes. For ITS technologies like vehicle-to-vehicle 
and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications, a na-
tional coordinated deployment structure is important 
for ensuring uniform standards and regulations that 
ensure interoperability and stability. 
(9) Transitioning to a more efficient, perform-
ance-based transportation network requires ITS 
technologies to provide accurate, real-time traffic 
and multimodal transportation system information 
necessary for measuring performance, as well as for 
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actively managing the transportation network to op-
timize capacity and meet or exceed system perform-
ance goals. 
(10) Effective transportation financing mecha-
nisms of today and tomorrow depend on ITS to be 
viable, including electronic toll collection, dynamic 
pricing, integrated payment systems for transit, 
tolls, parking and other services, and potential fu-
ture alternatives such as variable mileage-based user 
fees. 
(11) Investing in ITS creates good jobs, with 
an average of 50 percent of ITS project spending 
going directly to wages and salaries as compared to 
20 percent for new highway construction. Research-
ers from the London School of Economics and the 
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation 
(referred to in this section as ‘‘ITIF’’) have found 
that investing in ITS creates a network effect 
throughout the economy and stimulates job creation 
across multiple sectors, including green jobs, high- 
tech, automotive, information technology, consumer 
electronics, and related industries. In addition, in-
vesting in ITS provides a foundation for long-term 
benefits including government cost savings, econ-
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omy-wide productivity, and an improved quality of 
life. 
(12) The lack of national investment in ITS has 
caused the Nation to fall behind other world innova-
tion leaders. A 2010 ITIF report found that the 
United States is lagging behind Japan, South 
Korea, Singapore, and other leading Asian and Eu-
ropean nations in the deployment of ITS tech-
nologies with countries like China beginning to in-
vest heavily in the deployment of transportation 
technology. These countries have generated signifi-
cant benefits for their citizens, economy, and envi-
ronment by investing heavily in ITS solutions. In 
order to strengthen the Nation’s economic competi-
tiveness and quality of life, it is in the interest of the 
United States to encourage the accelerated develop-
ment and deployment of intelligent transportation 
systems. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions apply: 
(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means a State or local government, including a 
territory of the United States, tribal government, 
transit agency, port authority, metropolitan planning 
organization, or other political subdivision of a State 
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or local government or a multi-State or multi-juris-
dictional group applying through a single lead appli-
cant. 
(2) ITS.—The term ‘‘ITS’’ means intelligent 
transportation systems. 
(3) MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL GROUP.—The term 
‘‘multi-jurisdictional group’’ means a combination of 
State governments, locals governments, metropolitan 
planning agencies, transit agencies, or other political 
subdivisions of a State that have signed a written 
agreement to implement the Smart Communities 
Technology Initiative across jurisdictional bound-
aries. Each member of the group, including the lead 
applicant, must be an eligible entity to receive a 
grant under this Act. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Transportation. 
SEC. 4. SMART COMMUNITIES TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 
6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall establish a Smart Communities Technology 
Initiative to provide grants to eligible entities to develop 
pilot programs to serve as model deployment sites for large 
scale installation and operation of ITS to improve safety, 
efficiency, system performance, and return on investment. 
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The Secretary shall develop criteria for selection of an eli-
gible entity to receive a grant, including how the deploy-
ment of technology will enable the recipient— 
(1) to reduce costs and improve return on in-
vestments, including through the enhanced utiliza-
tion of existing transportation capacity; 
(2) to deliver environmental benefits and reduce 
energy consumption by alleviating congestion and 
streamlining traffic flow; 
(3) to measure and improve the operational per-
formance of its transportation network; 
(4) to reduce the number and severity of traffic 
collisions and increase driver, passenger, and pedes-
trian safety; 
(5) to collect, disseminate, and utilize real-time 
traffic, transit, parking, and other transportation-re-
lated information to improve mobility, reduce con-
gestion, and provide for more efficient and accessible 
transportation alternatives; 
(6) to monitor transportation assets to improve 
infrastructure management, reduce maintenance 
costs, prioritize investment decisions, and ensure a 
state of good repair; and 
(7) to deliver economic benefits by reducing 
delays, improving system performance, and providing 
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for the efficient and reliable movement of goods and 
services. 
(b) REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS.—Not later than 6 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall request applications in accordance with sec-
tion 5 for participation in the Smart Communities Tech-
nology Initiative. 
SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) GRANT APPLICATION.—To be considered for a 
grant under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an 
application to the Secretary that includes the following: 
(1) DEPLOYMENT PLAN.—A plan to deploy and 
provide for the long-term operation and maintenance 
of intelligent transportation systems to improve safe-
ty, efficiency, system performance, and return on in-
vestment, such as— 
(A) real-time integrated traffic, transit, 
and multimodal transportation information; 
(B) advanced traffic, freight, parking, and 
incident management systems; 
(C) collision avoidance systems; 
(D) advanced technologies to improve tran-
sit and commercial vehicle operations; 
(E) synchronized, adaptive, and transit 
preferential traffic signals; 
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(F) advanced infrastructure condition as-
sessment technologies; and 
(G) other technologies to improve system 
operations, including ITS applications necessary 
for multimodal systems integration and for 
achieving performance goals. 
(2) OBJECTIVES.—Quantifiable system per-
formance improvements, including reducing traffic- 
related crashes, congestion, and costs, optimizing 
system efficiency, and improving access to transpor-
tation services. 
(3) RESULTS.—Quantifiable safety, mobility, 
and environmental benefit projections including data 
driven estimates of how the project will improve the 
region’s transportation system efficiency and reduce 
traffic congestion. 
(4) PARTNERSHIPS.—A plan for partnering 
with the private sector, public agencies including 
multimodal and multijurisdictional entities, research 
institutions, organizations representing transpor-
tation and technology leaders, and other transpor-
tation stakeholders. 
(5) LEVERAGING.—A plan to leverage and opti-
mize existing local and regional ITS investments. 
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(6) INTEROPERABILITY.—A plan to ensure 
interoperability of deployed technologies with other 
tolling, traffic management, and intelligent transpor-
tation systems. 
(b) GRANT SELECTION.— 
(1) GRANT AWARDS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall award a grant to not more than 6 eligi-
ble entities with funds available for up to 5 fiscal 
years. 
(2) GEOGRAPHIC
DIVERSITY.—In awarding a 
grant under this section, the Secretary shall ensure, 
to the extent practicable, that grant recipients rep-
resent diverse geographic areas of the United States, 
including urban, suburban, and rural areas. 
SEC. 6. USES OF FUNDS. 
A grant recipient may use funds authorized in this 
Act to deploy, operate, and maintain ITS and ITS-enabled 
operational strategies, including— 
(1) advanced traveler information systems; 
(2) advanced transportation management tech-
nologies; 
(3) infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, and 
condition assessment; 
(4) advanced public transportation systems; 
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(5) transportation system performance data col-
lection, analysis, and dissemination systems; 
(6) advanced safety systems, including vehicle- 
to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communica-
tions and other collision avoidance technologies; 
(7) integration of intelligent transportation sys-
tems with the Smart Grid and other energy distribu-
tion and charging systems; 
(8) electronic pricing and tolling systems; and 
(9) advanced mobility and access technologies, 
such as dynamic ridesharing and information sys-
tems to support human services for elderly and dis-
abled Americans. 
SEC. 7. REPORTS. 
(a) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Not later than 1 year 
after an eligible entity receives a grant award under this 
Act and each year thereafter, each grant recipient shall 
submit a report to the Secretary that describes— 
(1) deployment and operational cost compared 
to the benefits and savings from the pilot program 
and compared to other alternative approaches; and 
(2) how the project has met the original expec-
tation as projected in the deployment plan submitted 
with the application, including— 
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(A) data on how the program has helped 
reduce traffic crashes, congestion, costs, and 
other benefits of the deployed systems; 
(B) data on the effect of measuring and 
improving transportation system performance 
through the deployment of advanced tech-
nologies; 
(C) the effectiveness of providing real-time 
integrated traffic, transit, and multimodal 
transportation information to the public to 
make informed travel decisions; and 
(D) lessons learned and recommendations 
for future deployment strategies to optimize 
transportation efficiency and multimodal system 
performance. 
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 
after grants have been allocated and each year thereafter, 
the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that de-
scribes the effectiveness of grant recipients in meeting 
their projected deployment plan, including data on how the 
program has— 
(1) reduced traffic-related fatalities and inju-
ries; 
(2) reduced traffic congestion and improved 
travel time reliability; 
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(3) reduced transportation-related emissions; 
(4) optimized multimodal system performance; 
(5) improved access to transportation alter-
natives; 
(6) provided the public with access to real-time 
integrated traffic, transit, and multimodal transpor-
tation information to make informed travel deci-
sions; 
(7) provided cost savings to transportation 
agencies, businesses, and the traveling public; and 
(8) provided other benefits to transportation 
users and the general public. 
(c) ADDITIONAL GRANTS.—If the Secretary deter-
mines from a grant recipient’s reports that the recipient 
is not carrying out the requirements of the grant, the Sec-
retary may cease to provide any additional grant funds 
to the recipient. The Secretary shall have the authority 
to redistribute remaining funds to select additional eligible 
entities for pilot programs under this Act. 
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) FUNDING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund to 
carry out this Act— 
(A) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 
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(B) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 
(C) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; 
(D) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; 
(E) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; and 
(F) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2017. 
(2) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—Funds authorized 
under this subsection shall be available for obligation 
in the same manner as if the funds were apportioned 
under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, ex-
cept that such funds shall not be transferable, the 
obligation limitations shall not apply to such funds, 
and shall remain available until expended. 
(b) GRANT LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not 
award more than 25 percent of the amount appropriated 
under this Act to a single grant recipient. 
(c) EXPENSES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—A grant 
recipient under this Act may use not more than 5 percent 
of the grant award each fiscal year to carry out planning 
and reporting requirements. 
(d) EXPENSES FOR SECRETARY.—Before awarding 
grant funds under this Act, the Secretary may set aside 
$3,000,000 each fiscal year for program reporting, evalua-
tion, and administrative costs. 
Æ 
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