§2.Inclusion of highway safety technology in certain highway and freight safety programs
This section incorporates safety data technologies—including predictive analytics, telematics, and other validated methodology tools—into the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP; i.e., formula funding to states for projects, activities, and plans to reduce highway fatalities and serious injuries consistent with State Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs)), National Highway Freight Program (i.e., funding for freight infrastructure and systems improvements), and national priority safety programs (i.e., competitive grants for data, enforcement, and other safety initiatives).
Specifically, the section (1) expands HSIP-eligible projects to include the development, acquisition, or deployment of such technologies for highway safety; (2) broadens the definition of safety data to encompass, to the extent practicable, data from these technologies for risk modeling and planning, plus specific data on railway-highway crossings; (3) requires SHSPs to incorporate these technologies, use safety data to proactively identify risks, apply them (along with crash data) in safety planning, and evaluate project effectiveness and comparative benefits of strategies; (4) adds these technologies as eligible activities under the freight program and requires their use in freight performance measures; (5) directs the freight program administrator, within one year of enactment, to assess the need for intelligent freight transportation system operating standards (i.e., tech systems improving freight efficiency, security, and safety on federal-aid highways) and report to Congress if needed; and (6) adds definitions for intelligent freight transportation systems and safety data (cross-referencing HSIP).
The section further (1) revises national priority safety grant criteria to encourage states to integrate these technologies into safety data systems and (2) adds to state maintenance-of-effort requirements the deployment or use of these technologies to identify high-risk segments, evaluate crash factors, and support performance planning. Finally, the section directs the Secretary of Transportation, within one year of enactment, to issue guidance on best practices for anonymizing and securing safety data, promoting transparency and accountability in these technologies, and ensuring reliance on validated methodologies (e.g., actuarial validation, behavioral risk analysis); and requires intradepartmental coordination on related activities and funding (Thus, these changes enable proactive, data-driven safety improvements across federal-aid highways, including rural roads and freight corridors.).