I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5799 
To require the Secretary of the Department of Transportation to conduct 
a study and develop a national intermodal transportation plan, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 20, 2010 
Mr. SESTAK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Department of Transpor-
tation to conduct a study and develop a national inter-
modal transportation plan, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Transportation Effi-
ciency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN-
NING TASK FORCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE.—The Presi-
dent shall create a National Intermodal Transportation 
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Planning Task Force (referred to in this Act as ‘‘Task 
Force’’) with the Secretary of Transportation, or designee, 
acting as chairperson and compromised of representatives 
of the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Labor, and 
Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency and other government agencies the Presi-
dent considers necessary to conduct the study and com-
plete the Plan required by this Act. 
(b) DUTIES
OF TASK FORCE.—The Task Force 
shall— 
(1) conduct a study on transportation needs, a 
draft of which shall be completed not later than 12 
months after the date of enactment of this Act and 
the final study shall be completed not later than 15 
months after the date of enactment of this Act; 
(2) sponsor a conference on National Transpor-
tation Planning not later than 6 months after the 
completion of the draft study; 
(3) make recommendations to the President for 
possible invitees to the conference on National 
Transportation Planning described in section 3; 
(4) use the study and the input of attendees of 
the conference under section 3 to draft a National 
Intermodal Transportation Plan (referred to in this 
Act as ‘‘Plan’’) not later than 24 months after the 
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date of enactment of this Act and publish it in the 
Federal Register and place it on the Department’s 
Web site for public comment; and 
(5) transmit to Congress, and place on the De-
partment of Transportation’s Web site, a National 
Intermodal Transportation Plan not later than 24 
months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION STUDY. 
In developing the study established pursuant to sec-
tion 1, the Task Force shall consider all aspects and all 
modes of transportation, public, private, and commercial, 
including air, rail (passenger and freight), road, port, wa-
terway, bicycle, and pedestrian. The study shall project for 
the next 30 years and examine and identify for such period 
of time the following: 
(1) National transportation priorities. 
(2) The anticipated demand, steps currently 
being taken to address anticipated demand, how suc-
cessful these steps are anticipated to be, the most 
advantageous allocation of shipments of goods and 
travel among the various capacities of various 
modes, connectivity of those modes, and comparative 
costs. Comparative costs shall take into account past 
public investments in currently existing infrastruc-
ture for each transportation mode. 
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(3) Deficiencies in the current and currently 
planned transportation systems to meet current and 
anticipated demand and the appropriate level of 
redundancies. 
(4) How intermodal transportation planning 
may help address anticipated transportation de-
mand, social impacts of transportation, and the im-
pact of the transportation sector on the environ-
ment, particularly global warming. 
(5) What obstacles exist to enhance and im-
prove intermodal transportation planning to meet 
national priorities so that the national Plan provides 
suggestions on policy and legislative recommenda-
tions to such obstacles. 
(6) Transportation
purposes, systems oper-
ational requirements and capacities, comparative 
long-term costs, and revenue sources. 
(7) How different agencies and levels of govern-
ment may be better incorporated and coordinated to 
improve transportation planning. 
(8) Obstacles to potential benefits from, and 
current efforts in mega-region planning at the na-
tional and regional level. 
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SEC. 4. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING CON-
FERENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall convene a 
National Transportation Priorities Conference (referred to 
in this Act as the ‘‘Conference’’) not later than 6 months 
after the completion of the draft National Transportation 
Study. 
(b) CONFERENCE MISSION.—The mission of the Con-
ference shall be— 
(1) to review the draft of the study conducted 
pursuant to section 2 and comment on the draft’s 
findings; 
(2) to discuss ways to improve transportation 
planning; 
(3) to suggest short-term and long-term goals 
to be incorporated into the Plan; 
(4) to examine and evaluate how environmental 
priorities and economic planning are integrated into 
transportation planning; 
(5) to identify obstacles to meeting those goals 
and suggestion measures to reduce or eliminate 
those obstacles; and 
(6) to perform other tasks that the Task Force 
considers helpful to complete the Study and the 
Plan. 
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(c) CONFERENCE
REPRESENTATIVES.—The Con-
ference shall be comprised of representatives appointed by 
the President of the following: 
(1) State Departments of Transportation. 
(2) State legislatures. 
(3) Municipal leaders. 
(4) Metropolitan planning organizations. 
(5) Transportation nonprofit and advocacy 
groups. 
(6) Bike and pedestrian and other transpor-
tation safety organizations. 
(7) Transportation trade associations. 
(8) Small and large transportation companies. 
(9) Environmental organizations. 
(10) Labor unions. 
(11) Academia. 
(12) And other groups the Task Force con-
siders helpful in achieving the conference’s mission. 
SEC. 5. NATIONAL INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Plan developed under this 
Act shall include all aspects and all modes of transpor-
tation, both public and private, including rail, aviation, 
waterways, roads, ports, bicycle, and pedestrian and shall 
include the following: 
(1) Summary of the findings of the study. 
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(2) Short-term and long-term goals. 
(3) A description of how each short-term goal 
will lead to, or at least not preclude, achieving long- 
term goals. 
(4) Incremental steps and performance meas-
ures to achieve such goals. 
(5) What public and private resources will be 
required to implement the Plan. 
(6) Any recommended legislative changes that 
are necessary to meet national priorities and the 
short-term and long-term goals, including better 
intermodal transportation and mega-region planning. 
(7) An exploration of potential alternatives to 
what is proposed in the Plan. 
(b) LONG-TERM GOALS.—The long-term goals in the 
Plan shall take into account the following: 
(1) Accessibility, including how best to reason-
ably ensure that the various parts of the country 
have access to the national transportation system 
(road, rail routes, air routes, and water routes), in-
cluding how and when public subsidies or regulation 
may be needed. 
(2) Mobility, including the ease and expense of 
getting people and goods to their desired destination 
in order to meet economics and societal needs. 
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(3) National security, including addressing mov-
ing people and goods by alternative routes and 
modes in the face of either a natural or man-made 
disaster or intentional act. 
(4) Economic prosperity, including addressing 
how a vibrant economy requires timely and cost-ef-
fective movement of goods and services and how var-
ious national transportation policies can positively 
and negatively effect local and regional economies. 
(5) Social equity, including addressing the fact 
that transportation decisions have different costs 
and benefits on differing segments of our society and 
how goals may be established to help minimize those 
differences and ensure that vulnerable segments of 
society do not pay a disproportionate percentage of 
the cost. 
(6) Evaluate the environmental protection, in-
cluding addressing the fact that transportation 
issues will have varying impacts on the environment 
from its contribution to green house gasses and 
other emissions to short-term economic costs that 
may lead to a decision that is counter to a long-term 
environmental benefit. 
(7) Energy consumption, including addressing 
how to minimize overall transportation sector energy 
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needs and utilizing cost-benefit analysis based upon 
full-cost accounting. 
SEC. 6. FUNDING AUTHORIZATION. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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