I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3581 
To require the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a pilot program 
to develop and provide to States and transportation planning organiza-
tions accessibility data sets, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 28, 2021 
Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself and Mr. CURTIS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Transportation to carry out 
a pilot program to develop and provide to States and 
transportation planning organizations accessibility data 
sets, 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 ‘‘Connecting Opportuni-
ties through Mobility Metrics and Unlocking Transpor-
tation Efficiencies Act’’ or the ‘‘COMMUTE Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ACCESSIBILITY DATA PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor-
tation (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 
establish an accessibility data pilot program (referred to 
in this section as the ‘‘pilot program’’). 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot program is 
to develop or procure an accessibility data set and make 
that data set available to each eligible entity selected to 
participate in the pilot program to improve the transpor-
tation planning of those eligible entities by— 
(1) measuring the level of access by multiple 
transportation modes to important destinations, 
which may include— 
(A) jobs, including areas with a concentra-
tion of available jobs; 
(B) health care facilities; 
(C) child care services; 
(D) educational and workforce training fa-
cilities; 
(E) affordable housing; 
(F) food sources; and 
(G) connections between modes, including 
connections to— 
(i) high-quality transit or rail service; 
(ii) safe bicycling corridors; and 
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(iii) safe sidewalks that achieve com-
pliance with applicable requirements of the 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 
(42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); 
(2) disaggregating the level of access by mul-
tiple transportation modes by a variety of population 
categories, which may include— 
(A) low-income populations; 
(B) minority populations; 
(C) age; 
(D) disability; and 
(E) geographical location; 
(3) assessing the change in accessibility that 
would result from new transportation investments; 
and 
(4) providing data necessary to prioritize trans-
portation investments that will improve access by all 
modes of travel. 
(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to par-
ticipate in the pilot program is— 
(1) a State (as defined in section 101(a) of title 
23, United States Code); 
(2) a metropolitan planning organization; or 
(3) a rural transportation planning organiza-
tion. 
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(d) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 
the pilot program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 
and containing such information as the Secretary may re-
quire, including information relating to— 
(1) previous experience of the eligible entity 
measuring transportation access, especially in low-in-
come, transit-dependent, or other high-needs com-
munities, or other performance management experi-
ence; 
(2) the types of important destinations to which 
the eligible entity intends to measure access; 
(3) the types of data disaggregation the eligible 
entity intends to pursue; 
(4) a general description of the methodology the 
eligible entity intends to apply; 
(5) if the applicant does not intend the pilot 
program to apply to the full area under the jurisdic-
tion of the applicant, a description of the geographic 
area in which the applicant intends the pilot pro-
gram to apply; and 
(6) a description of how the eligible entity plans 
to use the data to improve access to jobs and serv-
ices by all modes of travel, including for commu-
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nities of color, low-income communities, people who 
are transit-dependent, and vulnerable road users. 
(e) SELECTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall seek to 
achieve diversity of participants in the pilot program 
by selecting a range of eligible entities that shall in-
clude— 
(A) States; 
(B) metropolitan planning organizations 
that serve an area with a population of 200,000 
people or fewer; 
(C) metropolitan planning organizations 
that serve an area with a population of over 
200,000 people; and 
(D) rural transportation planning organi-
zations. 
(2) INCLUSIONS.—The Secretary shall seek to 
ensure that, among the eligible entities selected 
under paragraph (1), there is— 
(A) a range of capacity and previous expe-
rience with measuring transportation access; 
and 
(B) a variety of proposed methodologies 
and focus areas for measuring level of access. 
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(f) DUTIES.—For each eligible entity participating in 
the pilot program, the Secretary shall— 
(1) develop or acquire an accessibility data set 
described in subsection (b); and 
(2) submit the data set to the eligible entity. 
(g) METHODOLOGY.—In calculating the measures for 
the data set under the pilot program, the Secretary shall 
ensure that methodology is open source. 
(h) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall make an ac-
cessibility data set under the pilot program available to— 
(1) units of local government within the juris-
diction of the eligible entity participating in the pilot 
program; and 
(2) researchers. 
(i) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the last 
date on which the Secretary submits data sets to the eligi-
ble entity under subsection (f), the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress a report on the results of the program, includ-
ing— 
(1) the feasibility of developing and providing 
periodic accessibility data sets for all States, regions, 
and localities; and 
(2) an identification of specific actions the Sec-
retary and eligible entities participating in the pilot 
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program may take to further the use of accessibility 
data. 
(j) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out the 
pilot program using amounts made available to the Sec-
retary for administrative expenses to carry out programs 
under the authority of the Secretary. 
(k) SUNSET.—The pilot program shall terminate on 
the date that is 5 years after the date on which the pilot 
program is implemented. 
Æ 
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