I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3833 
To reauthorize surface transportation research programs, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 27, 2012 
Mr. HALL (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Texas) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 
and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To reauthorize surface transportation research programs, 
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Driving Research through Innovative Viable Economic 
Solutions Act of 2012’’ or the ‘‘DRIVES Act of 2012’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 3. Surface transportation research. 
Sec. 4. Technology deployment. 
Sec. 5. Training and education. 
Sec. 6. Repeals. 
Sec. 7. Transportation research and development strategic planning. 
Sec. 8. Additional repeals. 
Sec. 9. Intelligent transportation systems. 
Sec. 10. Administrative authority. 
Sec. 11. University transportation centers. 
Sec. 12. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The following amounts are au-
thorized to be appropriated out of the Highway Trust 
Fund: 
(1) SURFACE
TRANSPORTATION
RESEARCH.— 
To carry out section 502 of title 23, United States 
Code, $141,750,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 
through 2016. 
(2) TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT PROGRAM.—To 
carry out section 503 of title 23, United States 
Code, $60,750,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 
through 2016. 
(3) TRAINING AND EDUCATION.—To carry out 
section 504 of title 23, United States Code, 
$25,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 
2016. 
(4) INTELLIGENT
TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEMS 
PROGRAM.—To carry out subtitle C of title V of 
SAFETEA-LU, $110,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2013 through 2016. 
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(5) UNIVERSITY
TRANSPORTATION
CENTERS 
PROGRAM.—To carry out sections 5505, 5506, and 
5507 of title 49, United States Code, $75,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2016. 
(6) BUREAU
OF
TRANSPORTATION
STATIS-
TICS.—To carry out section 111 of title 49, United 
States Code, $27,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2013 through 2016. 
(b) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Funds authorized 
to be appropriated by subsection (a) shall— 
(1) be available for obligation in the same man-
ner as if those funds were apportioned under chap-
ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, except that the 
Federal share of the cost of a project or activity car-
ried out using those funds shall be 80 percent, un-
less otherwise expressly provided by this Act (includ-
ing the amendments made by this Act) or otherwise 
determined by the Secretary; 
(2) remain available until expended; and 
(3) not be transferable. 
(c) OBLIGATION
CEILING.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the total of all obligations from 
amounts made available from the Highway Trust Fund 
by subsection (a) shall be $440,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2013 through 2016. 
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SEC. 3. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH. 
Section 502 of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘within the innovation 
lifecycle’’ after ‘‘activities’’; and 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘impact analysis,’’ 
after ‘‘training,’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) in subparagraph (B) by striking 
‘‘supports research in which there is’’ and 
insert ‘‘delivers’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (C) by striking 
‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 
(iii) by redesignating subparagraph 
(D) as subparagraph (F); and 
(iv) by inserting after subparagraph 
(C) the following: 
‘‘(D) presents the best means to align re-
sources with multi-year plans and priorities; 
‘‘(E) ensures the coordination of highway 
research and technology transfer activities, in-
cluding through activities performed by univer-
sity transportation centers; or’’; 
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(C) in paragraph (3) by striking subpara-
graphs (B) through (D) and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B) partner with State highway agencies 
and other stakeholders as appropriate, includ-
ing international entities, to facilitate research 
and technology transfer activities; 
‘‘(C) communicate the results of ongoing 
and completed research; 
‘‘(D) lead efforts to coordinate national 
emphasis areas of highway research, technology, 
and innovation deployment; and 
‘‘(E) leverage partnerships with industry, 
academia, and international entities.’’; 
(D) in paragraph (4)(C) by striking ‘‘pol-
icy and planning’’ and inserting ‘‘all highway 
objectives seeking to improve the performance 
of the transportation system’’; 
(E) by striking paragraph (7) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(7) PERFORMANCE
REVIEW
AND
EVALUA-
TION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex-
tent practicable, all surface transportation re-
search and development projects shall include a 
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component of performance measurement and 
evaluation. 
‘‘(B) 
PERFORMANCE
MEASURES.—Per-
formance measures shall be established during 
the proposal stage of a research and develop-
ment project and shall, to the maximum extent 
practicable, be outcome-based. 
‘‘(C) PROGRAM PLAN.—To the maximum 
extent practicable, each program pursued under 
this chapter shall be part of a data-driven, out-
come-oriented program plan. 
‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY OF EVALUATIONS.—All 
evaluations under this paragraph shall be made 
readily available to the public.’’; and 
(F) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘sur-
face’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by striking paragraph (4) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(4) TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure that the programs and activities 
carried out under this section are consistent with the 
transportation research and development strategic 
plan developed under section 508.’’; and 
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(B) in paragraph (6) by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(C) TRANSFER
OF
AMOUNTS
AMONG 
STATES
OR
TO
FEDERAL
HIGHWAY
ADMINIS-
TRATION.—The Secretary may, at the request 
of a State, transfer amounts apportioned or al-
located to that State under this chapter to an-
other State or the Federal Highway Adminis-
tration to fund research, development, and tech-
nology transfer activities of mutual interest on 
a pooled funds basis. 
‘‘(D) TRANSFER OF OBLIGATION AUTHOR-
ITY.—Obligation authority for amounts trans-
ferred under this subsection shall be disbursed 
in the same manner and for the same amount 
as provided for the project being transferred.’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)(3)(A) by striking ‘‘50’’ 
and inserting ‘‘80’’; 
(4) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(d) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH
AND 
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out the surface 
transportation research and development program, 
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the Secretary, to address current and emerging 
highway transportation needs, shall— 
‘‘(A) identify research topics; 
‘‘(B) coordinate research and development 
activities; 
‘‘(C) carry out research, testing, and eval-
uation activities; 
‘‘(D) ensure program activities are coordi-
nated with the transportation research and de-
velopment strategic plan developed under sec-
tion 508; and 
‘‘(E) provide technology transfer and tech-
nical assistance. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Research and develop-
ment activities carried out under this section 
may include any of the activities in this para-
graph. 
‘‘(B) IMPROVING HIGHWAY SAFETY.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
may carry out research and development 
activities from an integrated perspective to 
establish and implement systematic meas-
ures to improve highway safety. 
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‘‘(ii) OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out 
this subparagraph, the Secretary may 
carry out research and development activi-
ties— 
‘‘(I) to achieve greater long-term 
safety gains; 
‘‘(II) to reduce the number of fa-
talities and serious injuries on public 
roads; 
‘‘(III) to fill knowledge gaps that 
limit the effectiveness of research; 
‘‘(IV) to support the development 
and implementation of State strategic 
highway safety plans; 
‘‘(V) to advance improvements 
in, and use of, performance prediction 
analysis for decisionmaking; 
‘‘(VI) 
to 
expand 
technology 
transfer to partners and stakeholders; 
and 
‘‘(VII) to enhance rural highway 
safety. 
‘‘(C) IMPROVING INFRASTRUCTURE INTEG-
RITY.— 
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‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
may carry out and facilitate highway infra-
structure research and development activi-
ties— 
‘‘(I) to maintain infrastructure 
integrity; 
‘‘(II) to meet user needs; and 
‘‘(III) to link Federal transpor-
tation investments to improvements in 
system performance. 
‘‘(ii) OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out 
this subparagraph, the Secretary may 
carry out research and development activi-
ties— 
‘‘(I) to reduce the number of fa-
talities attributable to infrastructure 
design characteristics and work zones; 
‘‘(II) to improve the safety and 
security of highway infrastructure; 
‘‘(III) to increase the reliability 
of lifecycle performance predictions 
used in infrastructure design, con-
struction, and management; 
‘‘(IV) to improve the ability of 
transportation 
agencies 
to 
deliver 
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projects that meet expectations for 
timeliness, quality, and cost; 
‘‘(V) to reduce user delay attrib-
utable to infrastructure system per-
formance, maintenance, rehabilitation, 
and construction; 
‘‘(VI) to improve highway infra-
structure condition and performance 
through increased use of design, ma-
terials, construction, and maintenance 
innovations; 
‘‘(VII) to improve the resiliency 
of roadways to heavy freight traffic; 
‘‘(VIII) to reduce environmental 
impacts of highway infrastructure 
through innovations in design, con-
struction, operation, preservation, and 
maintenance; and 
‘‘(IX) to study vulnerabilities of 
the transportation system to seismic 
activities and extreme events and 
methods 
to 
reduce 
those 
vulnerabilities. 
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‘‘(D) REDUCING CONGESTION, IMPROVING 
HIGHWAY
OPERATIONS, 
AND
ENHANCING 
FREIGHT PRODUCTIVITY.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
may carry out research under this sub-
paragraph with the goals of— 
‘‘(I) addressing congestion prob-
lems; 
‘‘(II) reducing the costs of con-
gestion; 
‘‘(III) improving freight move-
ment in both rural corridors and met-
ropolitan areas; 
‘‘(IV) 
increasing 
productivity; 
and 
‘‘(V) improving the economic 
competitiveness of the United States. 
‘‘(ii) OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out 
this subparagraph, the Secretary may 
carry out research and development activi-
ties to identify, develop, and assess innova-
tions that have the potential— 
‘‘(I) to reduce traffic congestion; 
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‘‘(II) to improve freight move-
ment in both rural corridors and met-
ropolitan areas; and 
‘‘(III) to reduce freight-related 
congestion throughout the transpor-
tation network. 
‘‘(E) ASSESSING POLICY AND SYSTEM FI-
NANCING ALTERNATIVES.—The Secretary may 
conduct policy analysis on emerging issues in 
the transportation community to provide infor-
mation to policy-makers and decisionmakers.’’; 
(5) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(e) EXPLORATORY ADVANCED RESEARCH.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish an exploratory advanced research program, con-
sistent with the transportation research and develop-
ment strategic plan of the Secretary, that addresses 
longer-term, higher-risk research with potentially 
dramatic breakthroughs. 
‘‘(2) RESEARCH AREAS.—In carrying out the 
program, the Secretary may make grants and enter 
into cooperative agreements and contracts in such 
areas of surface transportation research and tech-
nology as the Secretary determines appropriate. 
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‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION.—Of the amounts author-
ized in section 2(a)(1) of the Driving Research 
through Innovative Viable Economic Solutions Act 
of 2012, $14,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 
through 2016 shall be available to carry out this 
subsection.’’; 
(6) by striking subsections (f), (g), and (j); 
(7) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as 
subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 
(8) in subsection (f), as so redesignated— 
(A) by striking ‘‘2006’’ and inserting 
‘‘2012’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation’’ after 
‘‘Public Works’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘and the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology’’ after ‘‘Infra-
structure’’; and 
(9) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) PRIZE COMPETITION.—Consistent with section 
24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 
1980, the Secretary may carry out a program to award 
prizes competitively to stimulate innovation in the area of 
surface transportation that has the potential to advance 
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