“To provide for the development of transportation demand management strategies, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings on the benefits of transportation demand management (TDM)—as defined in 23 U.S.C. §101(a)—including its role in increasing transportation infrastructure efficiency, improving rural access to jobs and services for elderly, disabled, and low-income residents, reducing rural household transportation costs and car dependence, lowering national congestion costs (estimated at $74 billion in 2024), and promoting cost-effective options such as carpooling and vanpooling.
This section defines "transportation demand management" in 23 U.S.C. §101(a)(32) as strategies to inform and encourage travelers to maximize transportation system efficiency, reduce congestion, and improve air quality through planning, operations, incentives, pricing, data, technology, and related activities (e.g., employer fringe benefits under IRC §132(f), carpooling and vanpooling, parking management, telecommuting promotion, and micromobility support). The section further makes implementation of such strategies eligible under— (1) the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ; 23 U.S.C. §149(b)(7)); (2) the National Infrastructure Project Assistance program (49 U.S.C. §6701(d)(1)(G) and (h)(1)(C)), including as a standalone project category and for related planning activities; and (3) the Local and Regional Project Assistance program (49 U.S.C. §6702(a)(3)(H)). Finally, this section adds transportation demand management strategy implementation as an eligible activity under the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) grant program (sec. 25005(e) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; Public Law 117-58).
This section establishes a $20 million annual set-aside from Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program funds for grants to develop and implement transportation demand management strategies in rural areas (i.e., outside urbanized areas with populations over 200,000) to improve mobility, increase access to jobs, and expand modal options. Eligible recipients for the set-aside include (1) State departments of transportation; (2) metropolitan planning organizations serving rural areas; (3) units of local government; (4) Tribal governments; (5) public transit agencies; (6) regional transportation planning organizations; and (7) nonprofits or institutions of higher education engaged in rural transportation planning and commuter services (separate from the program's general eligible entities). Eligible activities for the set-aside encompass (1) developing transportation demand management plans and policies; (2) marketing and outreach for shared mobility and alternative modes; (3) data collection and analysis of rural travel patterns; (4) implementing strategies such as vanpooling, carpooling, commuting incentives, traveler information systems, smart hubs, intelligent transportation systems, trip-planning apps, and behavioral incentives; (5) public-private partnerships for technology solutions; and (6) management and operating costs (separate from the program's general eligible projects, such as highways and bridges). The general eligibility rules for entities and projects under the program do not apply to the set-aside, and any unutilized set-aside funds revert to other program grants.
This section revises the congestion relief program (i.e., grants for eligible highway, transit, and other projects to reduce traffic congestion) by (1) eliminating the requirement in two eligibility clauses that metropolitan areas have a population of more than 1,000,000 (thus expanding eligibility to smaller areas); (2) excepting small project grants from certain program requirements; and (3) establishing a $20 million annual set-aside for projects with estimated costs between $500,000 and $10 million, with unutilized funds available for other program projects.