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 fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To optimize transportation through efficient operations and 
maintenance programs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Technologies 
for Communities Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Congestion on our roadways is hampering 
American’s daily lives, slowing down commerce, pol-
luting the environment we live in, and wasting fuel. 
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It is estimated that in our metropolitan commu-
nities, more than 4,200,000,000 hours are wasted 
sitting in traffic, resulting in 2,800,000,000 gallons 
of 
wasted 
fuel 
and 
costing 
more 
than 
$87,000,000,000 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-
ficient transportation system. We must make better 
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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) 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-
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 
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capacity which has an estimated benefit-to-cost ratio 
of 2.7 to 1. 
(7) 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 prevent or reduce the im-
pact of up to 82 percent of non-alcohol related traf-
fic fatalities. 
(8) 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 
actively managing the transportation network to op-
timize capacity and meet or exceed system perform-
ance goals. 
(9) 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, 
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tolls, parking and other services, and potential fu-
ture alternatives such as mileage-based user fees. 
(10) 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-
omy-wide productivity, and an improved quality of 
life. 
(11) The lack of Federal 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. These countries have generated significant 
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benefits for their citizens, economy, and environment 
by investing heavily in ITS solutions. In order to 
strengthen the Nation’s economic competitiveness 
and quality of life, it is in the interest of the United 
States to encourage the accelerated development 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 State and local governments, including 
territories of the United States, tribal governments, 
transit agencies, port authorities, metropolitan plan-
ning organizations, other political subdivisions of a 
State or local government, and multi-State or multi- 
jurisdictional groups applying through a single lead 
applicant. 
(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 
program across jurisdictional boundaries. Each 
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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 the Smart Communities Technology 
Initiative which provides grants to eligible entities to de-
velop pilot programs to serve as model deployment sites 
for large scale installation and operation of ITS to im-
prove safety, mobility, and the environment. The Secretary 
shall develop criteria for selection of an eligible entity to 
receive a grant, including how the deployment of tech-
nology impacts the following: 
(1) Ability to deliver environmental benefits and 
reduce energy consumption by alleviating congestion 
and streamlining traffic flow. 
(2) Ability to measure and improve the oper-
ational performance of its transportation network. 
(3) Ability to reduce the number and severity of 
traffic collisions and increase driver, passenger, and 
pedestrian safety. 
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(4) Availability of user-friendly traffic, transit, 
parking, and other transportation-related informa-
tion to improve mobility, reduce congestion, and pro-
vide for more efficient and accessible transportation 
alternatives. 
(5) Ability to provide lower-cost solutions for 
managing multimodal transportation systems and 
optimizing existing capacity. 
(6) Deliver economic benefits by reducing 
delays, improving system performance, and providing 
for the efficient 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, mobility, and the environment, such as— 
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(A) real-time integrated traffic, transit, 
parking, and multimodal transportation infor-
mation; 
(B) advanced traffic, freight, and incident 
management systems; 
(C) collision avoidance systems; 
(D) advanced technologies to improve tran-
sit and commercial operations; 
(E) operational improvements, such as 
synchronized, adaptive and/or transit pref-
erential traffic signals; and 
(F) other technologies, including ITS ap-
plications necessary for multimodal systems in-
tegration and for achieving performance goals. 
(2) OBJECTIVES.—Quantifiable system per-
formance improvements, including reducing traffic- 
related crashes, congestion, and emissions, opti-
mizing multimodal system efficiency, and improving 
access to transportation choices. 
(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. 
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(4) PARTNERSHIPS.—A plan for partnering 
with the private sector, public agencies including 
multimodal and multijurisdictional entities, research 
institutions, stakeholder organizations representing 
the ITS industry, and other transportation stake-
holders. 
(5) LEVERAGING.—A plan to leverage and opti-
mize existing local and regional ITS investments. 
(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 no more than 6 eligible 
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. 
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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 sys-
tems; 
(3) advanced infrastructure maintenance and 
construction technology; 
(4) advanced public transportation systems; 
(5) transportation system performance data col-
lection and analysis systems; 
(6) advanced safety systems, including vehicle- 
to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communica-
tions and other collision avoidance technologies; 
(7) electronic pricing and tolling systems; and 
(8) advanced mobility and access technologies, 
such as dynamic ridesharing. 
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 
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